Royal Affairs
by Ezra.A.Bradley
Summary: AU. When Blaine is brought to the palace to serve as Prince Kurt's personal slave, he thinks his life is over. Little does he know that there is so much more in store for him at the palace than he ever could have imagined.
1. Ch 1: Keep Your Shirt On

**Chapter 1**

**Keep Your Shirt On**

"Blaine, how do you think Dad is doing?" Joel asked his younger brother as he pulled a bundle of grapes from the vine.

"I don't know. I hope he's alright," Blaine responded, adjusting the strap of the heavy grape basket on his shoulder. "I mean, he got enough money for us to settle his debt at least. So if everything went according to plan, he should be working somewhere now – supporting himself, hopefully."

Joel took a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow with the hem of his shirt. Letting out a sigh, he continued, "I hope he doesn't have to work as hard as we do. You know he's getting too old to be doing labor like this."

Blaine nodded in agreement while he continued plucking grapes. "I hope he doesn't have to be outside as much as we are. His allergies would kill him." He brought a hand to his forehead to shield his eyes against the blazing sun as he looked up toward some grapes located in a particularly high spot on the vine.

"Yeah, hopefully he found someplace he can just work with cows in a barn like he always has," Joel said, wiping his face again on his cotton shirt.

Blaine smirked. "Your shirt is soaked, Joel. Why don't you just take it off? I'm telling you, if you tie it around your head like I do, it keeps you way cooler _and_ it keeps the sweat out of your eyes."

Joel snorted a laugh. He looked at his brother as he plucked grapes. The younger boy looked perfectly at ease, but admittedly pretty goofy with his cotton work shirt tied around his head amongst his long dark curls. Joel smiled when he saw their mother's golden pendent shimmer in the sun against Blaine's suntanned chest. He was glad Blaine had been able to keep it. Even thought they had found themselves in the awful situation of being forced into slavery because of their father's debt, Blaine had somehow managed to hold onto their mother's most valuable possession. Joel had always admired Blaine. He admired his determination, his compassion, and, at times, his hard-headedness. But most of all, Joel admired Blaine's unfailingly good attitude. He could find humor and happiness in the bleakest of situations. Sometimes Joel thought that if he didn't have Blaine to keep him looking at the bright side of things, he might completely lose it.

Joel was glad that he hadn't had to be separated from his little brother and that they still got to live and work together on Count Lamore's vineyard. It certainly wasn't the worst place they could be. Lamore's vineyard was one of the most successful in all of Daltonia, so their conditions weren't terrible. Sure, Lamore wasn't the kindest owner, but he was fair and provided for all of his slaves.

"Fine, Blaine, I'll humor you. I'll give it a try." The tall, lean older brother set his gathering basket on the ground and reached to remove his soaking shirt when the brothers were suddenly distracted by the sound of approaching hooves on the pathway next to the winding rows of grapevines.

They turned their matching curly heads toward the approaching noise and their matching square jaws dropped when they saw its source. Coming up the pathway was a line of four regal looking riders, dressed from head to toe in the royal colors of red and black. The regalia covering the four horses' haunches displayed the crest of the Royal Palace. This crest was rarely seen outside of the kingdom's capitol city of Lima, so the brothers were immediately intrigued as to why a caravan of actual Royal Palace guards was passing through a vineyard in rural Daltonia, which was the kingdom's poorest region and which was located the furthest of all the regions from Lima.

As the caravan passed the brothers, the guards did not even try to hide their scrutinizing stares. All four men's eyes raked up and down the brothers, looking as though they were appraising their appearance.

Blaine suddenly felt very uncomfortable standing there with his bare chest exposed to their invasive eyes. He saw them staring at him, the big one in front actually licking his lips as he gazed at Blaine's abdomen. The young slave crossed his arms in front of him. His hand immediately moved to stroke the small golden pendant that hung from his neck. He left his arms covering himself until the line had passed and the guards turned their heads forward once again.

The brothers stood in silence a moment longer, Blaine still rubbing their mother's pendant lightly in his fingers.

"What do you think that's about?" Blaine finally said to break the silence.

Joel shook his head. "I don't know, but on second thought, I think I'll keep my shirt on."

* * *

"How can I help you gentlemen?" Count Lamore asked, sitting back into the high backed chair in the front room of his modest house.

The head guard, Karofsky, replied from a seat across from the count, "Well, sir, as you may have heard, Prince Kurt's eighteenth birthday is coming up. It's been the tradition in the royal family for centuries that when a Prince turns eighteen, he is given a virgin to act as his personal slave."

The count nodded his understanding.

"So, we're here to enquire about the possibility of purchasing one of your slaves to serve this purpose."

The count raised his eyebrows. "Well, this is a surprise indeed. How do you know you'd like one of my slaves?"

"Prince Kurt has expressed his preference for young men of Daltonian descent," Karofsky said matter-of-factly.

"I see."

"Yes, so you see, we have been sent to Daltonia by King Burt in search of a suitable slave. And on our way down the road adjacent to your vineyard, we spotted a couple of slaves picking grapes that we thought might be fitting."

"Which ones? I have ten male slaves."

"Two males, both with dark curly hair…" Karofsky trailed off, not really knowing how else to describe them.

"That describes about every male in Daltonia," the count replied impatiently.

"They were relatively young. One looked slightly older than the other. They were both very attractive," Karofsky added, a hint of pink entering his cheeks. "Oh, and the younger one was wearing a golden pendant around his neck."

"Ah! You mean the dairy farm brothers. I purchased them from their bankrupt father not two months ago. Poor fool spent his life savings trying to aid his sick wife. She died anyway and he found himself so far in debt that he had no choice but to sell the family farm. It wasn't enough to cover his debts, so the law forced him to sell his sons – the only other assets he had.

"They are both in excellent physical condition and are good workers, so I actually paid quite a bit for them. If you want one, I'll need the price to cover what I paid, plus the cost of a new slave to replace him, plus some sort profit for myself." The count leaned forward with a devilish grin on his face. He loved to talk about money.

"Sir, we are prepared to offer you 800,000 oras for one of the boys."

The count's eyes widened. He had only paid 100,000 for the pair of brothers. He didn't want to show his surprise, though, because he didn't want the guard to lower his offer. "I suppose that's reasonable," he replied as calmly as possible.

"That is, provided that the one we buy is a virgin," Karofsky clarified.

The count paused. He was really not aware of the brothers' sexual history. "I can only tell you what I know," he started. "The older one is twenty-one years old and he was engaged to be married at the time I bought him. His fiancée is pregnant, so it's safe to say that he's not a virgin. Also, I'm not even legally allowed to sell him since he's going to have a child. According to the law, he'll have to be set free once the child is born so he can find a paying job."

"Twenty-one is a bit old for Prince Kurt anyway," Karofsky said.

"As for the younger one, I think it is more than likely that he is still a virgin. The brothers are from a very rural part of Daltonia and there aren't many young people in the vicinity for him to have fraternized with. During his time here, I haven't heard of him interacting much with anyone other than his brother."

"I see. And how old is the younger one?"

"He's seventeen."

Karofsky nodded in approval. "And you said he's in good physical standing?"

"Excellent. Top form. He's strong too. You should see the boy bail hay."

"That's good to hear, Count Lamore. I think we've found what we're looking for – if you're willing to part with him."

"For 800,000 oras, he's absolutely yours, sir." The two men shook hands firmly.


	2. Ch 2: I Got Out

**Chapter 2**

**I Got Out**

Blaine was sleeping soundly next to Joel in their bed of hay in an empty stall when the guards burst through the barn door. The brothers awoke instantaneously and bolted upright, hearts pounding uncontrollably. "What the…" gasped Joel. Blaine was breathing open mouthed in shock as he watched the four Lima Palace guards approaching, half blinded by their burning lanterns in the dark. Blaine briefly remembered the caravan of palace guards coming up the road earlier that day.

The biggest guard in the front of the group thrust his lantern forward over the bed, shining it in the brothers' faces. Joel and Blaine shielded their eyes against the intense light, rendered speechless by the confusing situation.

"You!" the guard barked at Blaine, "Get up!"

"Wha…" Blaine started to speak, but he was cut off when a strong hand jerked him up by his arm. He was pulled to his feet and shoved in the direction of the barn door.

"Blaine!" Joel cried out. "What are you doing to him?" His voice sounded fierce as he turned it on the guards. He sprang to his feet and tried to reach his brother. The biggest guard reached out, caught him around his chest and restrained him. Joel struggled against his iron grip as he watched his little brother's hands being tied in front of his body. The expression on Blaine's face was full of pure terror. "Why are you doing this?" Joel shouted, tears of frustration starting to brim in his eyes.

"Your brother has been sold into the service of the Lima Palace Court."

"What?" the brothers shouted in unison.

"No!" Blaine exclaimed. "I can't leave here! My father won't be able to find me! He needs to buy me back… he's going to buy me back when he can!" Tears were falling freely down Blaine's cheeks as they started pushing him in the direction of the barn door. "Please! Please don't take me! Lima is too far away! He won't be able to come for me!" Blaine dug his heels into the ground and braced himself against the guards' pushing. "No! Joel! Help me! Don't let them take me!" His voice was hysterical, and it broke his brother's heart.

The huge, hulking guard that was restraining Joel grabbed him by the shirt collar and handed him off to another guard. They followed the other two and Blaine out of the barn and into the moonlit vineyard. Four horses were aligned and ready to go. The three guards that were not holding Joel were trying to force a kicking and screaming Blaine up onto the lead horse. He struggled as much as his bound hands would allow, but they outnumbered and overpowered him. In what seemed like no time at all, they had secured his hands to the horn of the saddle and the big guard, who was holding Joel earlier and seemed to be in charge, mounted behind him. He took the horse's reigns so his arms were effectively wrapped around the struggling boy in front of him.

"Joel?" Blaine's panicked voice shrieked and he whipped his head around in search of his brother.

"Blaine! Blaine, listen to me!" Joel called back, fighting the guard's grip on his arms. "I'll come for you Blaine! I swear to God, I'll come and get you! I don't care what it takes. I'll get you out of there!"

Blaine stared into his brother's eyes, burning hazel with anger in the moonlight. He knew Joel was telling the truth. He knew he would fight until the day he died to free him. The guard holding Joel released him and ran to mount his horse. The last thing Blaine saw before his vision was blurred by fresh tears was Joel starting to run toward him. Then his body jerked backwards into the guard's chest when the horse lurched into a gallop.

The caravan of horses ran off into the night. Joel ran after them for as long as he could; yelling to his brother until he was out of sight, making sure he knew his promise to free him was solid.

Blaine's tears stopped after his brother's voice faded into the distance. They rode for hours without stopping. At some point the sun had risen and the heat of the day had started to pound on them. The heat was especially miserable for Blaine to endure because he was trapped up against the huge guard who had him locked in a permanent, sweaty, and horribly smelly embrace. Being unable to shift his weight, his hips and legs had gone numb hours ago. The ropes that secured his wrists to the saddle horn were tight and would cut into him if he moved his hands too much. He resolved to just sit in silence with his head hung low as the caravan pressed on.

Around midday, the horses were finally pulled off to the side of the road and over to the bank of a clear stream. The guard behind Blaine dismounted and tied the horse to a low tree branch while it dipped its head to the water and drank thirstily.

The guard released Blaine's hands from the saddle horn, but they remained tied together. Blaine winced when he dismounted. His legs and buttocks were incredibly sore.

"Drink some water." The hulking guard commanded. With his hands bound, Blaine was still able to cup the stream water to his mouth. It was cold and delicious. For a second, Blaine forgot his situation and allowed himself to be engulfed in the amazing sensation of the water against his dry throat. He splashed some of the water onto his body, trying to cool off in the blistering heat. The water caused his white cotton short to stick to his torso.

"Damn," Blaine heard one of the guards say when he turned around to face them. "Check out the body on this one." His stomach clenched when he saw the man's eyes hover over his wet shirt. The man took a step toward him and grabbed Blaine's bicep. "Hard as a rock!" The man exclaimed, making the others laugh. "Prince Kurt is in for a treat."

Blaine recoiled from the man's touch. A shiver of fear raced down his spine.

"Hey, hands off," Karofsky growled. "This one's for the prince. If you ruin him, you buy him. And I know none of you clowns can afford an 800,000 ora slave."

"Alright, Karofsky. Calm down. I was just having a little fun," the guard who'd grabbed Blaine said.

A lump rose in Blaine's throat. Ruin him? What did he mean by that? For the prince? Would he be working for the prince? And why on earth would they pay 800,000 oras for _him_?

"Wh… what exactly… did you buy me for? Why did you pay so much for me?" Blaine squeaked. The guards all smiled at him knowingly and looked at each other. They acted as if his questions were highly amusing. "What is my job even supposed to be at the Palace? I don't understand why you guys would travel all the way from Lima to buy _me_. I don't know anything about the palace. I've never even been farther away from home than the vineyard…"

Karofsky spoke, interrupting Blaine's nervous rambling. "We had to come to this godforsaken part of the kingdom because Prince Kurt has expressed a particular fondness for Daltonians." He rolled his eyes before he continued. "We paid so much for you because one: we had to reimburse your owner for the labor he is losing. Two: because you are literally exactly what we were looking for and we had to make sure we got you. And three: because that is the amount the king allotted us." The rest of the guards kept snickering in between their sips of water. Still smiling, Karofsky continued. "Prince Kurt's birthday is just around the corner. You're everything he said he wants: Daltonian male, under nineteen, physically fit, _pretty face_," he said mockingly, pinching Blaine's cheek, "and a virgin. We purchased you on behalf of the king. Congratulations, you are his personal gift to his only heir."

The words hit him like a smack in the face. _Pretty face, purchased, gift, virgin_… Blaine was utterly speechless as the idea finally clicked in his head.

"Your job at the palace should be pretty easy, really. Your job will be to keep the prince happy."

_Keep the prince happy_. The thought made Blaine's stomach turn. He'd heard stories about Prince Kurt. It was well known all over the kingdom that he was the first out and proud member of the royal family. It had been a big controversy when he first came out publicly, although there had been a lot of suspicion since the prince was a young boy. Blaine would admire Kurt greatly for that if it weren't for the prince's other antics. Since his coming out, Prince Kurt had gained a reputation as quite the player, shifting from man to man, frequenting Lima's social scene with different arm candy at every event. Even way out in the farmlands of Daltonia, word had traveled about the prince's "fast" reputation.

Blaine knew exactly what keeping the prince happy would entail. He'd learned all about the various statuses of workers at the palace in his social studies classes at school, and he remembered being particularly appalled when he'd learned about the role of the royals' personal slaves. Blaine knew that he would serve as Prince Kurt's own personal sexual outlet on the few nights that he didn't lure a new man into his royal bed. That would be his life until the prince married, and then he'd be expected to serve some other role in the palace, probably doing menial labor, for the rest of his life.

Blaine was so overwhelmed with emotions that he could hardly breathe. This was definitely not a situation he'd ever imagined for himself. He'd known he was homosexual since he was twelve years old and he kissed a boy named Tucker who worked who his family's dairy farm, but Blaine had honestly never given much thought to sex or love since then. There had always been too many other, more important matters in his life to deal with. But one thing he had certainly never envisioned for himself was being forced to lose his virginity as a birthday present to a spoiled, racy prince.

The boy's stomach lurched and he suddenly felt like vomiting in the tall grass by the stream. The guards roared with laughter as he dry heaved over the grass, breathing hard, trying to not to hyperventilate.

"Awww come on now!" Karofsky said patronizingly as he clapped a hand on Blaine's shoulder. "Prince Kurt isn't _that_ repulsive. I bet you'll find out you guys have a lot in common …" His voice trailed off as he joined the others in laughing hysterically.

Blaine sat by the stream alone while the guards gathered under the shade of a tree and started eating the food they had packed. He stared at the water trickling by without blinking. He was so overcome with emotions that his mind didn't even know where to start. Then his thoughts drifted to his father. Fresh tears came to his eyes as he thought about what he might be doing right then, and the fact that he didn't have any idea that his youngest son had just been made a sex slave. _How did things get so far off track so fast?_ He thought. His father had gone through so much to be able to send Blaine to school up until he had lost the farm. His dad had always told him he could do whatever he wanted – that he would get out of rural Daltonia and do amazing things in this world.

_Well, Dad, I got out. _He thought bitterly as he looked down at his bound wrists.

In just two short months, Blaine had lost everything that had ever mattered to him: his mother, his home, his father, his freedom, his brother Joel, and now he had lost his hope. His father would never be able to travel all the way to the capitol city of Lima to get him. Even if he could manage to travel the huge distance, there was no way he'd ever be able to afford to buy him out of the palace, since he was apparently worth 800,000 oras now. Joel had promised to come for him, but he knew that was unrealistic too. Joel would be free in about two months when his baby was born, but he would be absolutely broke, jobless, and trying to support a family.

Sitting there by the stream, utterly alone and hopeless, Blaine looked down at his bound hands and tried to imagine his new future. For the first time in his life, he could not find a bright side to his situation.


	3. Ch 3: The Naked Truth

**Chapter 3**

**The Naked Truth**

Blaine had never been to a city before. He'd never even seen one from a distance. The tallest building he'd ever encountered was just three stories high and the only paved road he'd ever walked on was the poorly maintained brick stretch that ran in front of the courthouse in his minuscule hometown. So, after seven days of uninterrupted travel, when the caravan finally reached the outskirts of Lima, Blaine's senses were immediately overwhelmed.

The stone buildings seemed to squeeze closer and closer and stretch taller and taller as they moved toward the center of the city. For the first time in his life, Blaine found himself surrounded on all sides by stone and pavement. His breathing became labored as a strong sense of claustrophobia started to pervade his consciousness.

For the entire duration of the journey, Blaine had been concentrating on the sky and the feeling of refreshing breezes in order to distract himself from the fact that Karofsky's arms were enveloping him in the sweaty embrace, but in the city he could find no relief. The air was still and hot and smelled like garbage. The buildings were so tall he had to look straight up to see the blue of the sky. Glancing around desperately for a glimpse of grass or a tree, all he could see in any direction were buildings, streets, and people. So many people.

Blaine had never witnessed such a huge concentration of people in one place. The horses of the caravan had to slow down dramatically in order to maneuver through the throng of city dwellers in the streets. Although most people tried to stay a respectful distance away from the Palace caravan, some parts were so crowded that bumping into strangers was inevitable. Blaine winced every time his legs grazed against the countless passersby.

The noise of his new surroundings was unbelievable. The sounds of people talking, of venders shouting, the ringing of bicycle bells, the clanging of metal that seemed to come from nowhere, and the endless "clop clop clop" of the horse's hooves beneath him seemed to reverberate tenfold off of the endless walls and press mercilessly on Blaine's eardrums.

The sound, the smell, the heat, the strangers, the lack of sky - Blaine hated it. Everything was pressing in on him so heavily that it felt as if he were moving through molasses. There were no trees. There was no wind. Only crowd. Only pressure.

Blaine closed his eyes tight and was concentrating very hard on trying to draw even breaths as the caravan made its way through a marketplace. He could still feel the crowd pressing up against his legs. It registered somewhere in the back of his mind that all of these people were probably staring at him. Tied to a Lima Palace Guard's saddle horn, dressed in shabby work clothes, eyes shut tight with tear stains on his dirty face. Yes, Blaine imagined he must have been quite a sight to see in an urban marketplace.

Blaine didn't open his eyes again until he felt the horse come to a stop. They had arrived at the palace gates. Blaine's mouth dropped open at the sight of the elaborate structure sprawled out in front of him. The palace was breathtaking: all windows and colored glass and towers of white stone that glittered in the sunlight. He had no idea such intricate buildings even existed outside of story books.

A guard on the other side of the iron gate opened it up and allowed the caravan to enter the courtyard. Blaine breathed a sigh of relief at the welcomed sight of the grass and flowers in the courtyard garden.

The relief was short-lived though. Blaine shuddered at the sound of the iron gate clanking closed behind him. The sound sealed his fate. He knew he'd most likely never leave the palace walls again.

Once inside the palace walls, Karofsky steered the horse around the outside of the enormous edifice until they came upon a seemingly unimportant wooden door on the castle's right side. Once there, he dismounted, untied Blaine's hands from the saddle horn, and pulled him down. Holding onto the boy by his shirt collar, the big guard then pounded the wooden door three times with his massive fist.

"This is one of the servant entrances. Once we're inside, you'll be handed off to the stylists," Karofsky stated as they waited for a response to his knock.

"Stylists?" Blaine questioned.

Karofsky rolled his eyes. "Prince Kurt's birthday celebration is tonight. You're going to be presented as his main gift. You're going to need to look good."

Blaine felt his heart speed up at Karofsky's implication.

"They're just going to… polish you up."

Blaine swallowed hard and looked straight ahead, trying not to think too hard about what was in store for him in the hours to come. He gasped in surprise when the wooden door suddenly swung upon, narrowly missing hitting him in the face.

"Oh, _thank God_ you're finally here!" a curvy young woman with clear, dark skin exclaimed from the doorway. "We were beginning to think we weren't gonna have enough time!" And with that, she turned and retreated back into the palace, leaving the door open behind her, apparently as an unspoken command for Karofsky and Blaine to follow.

Karofsky took the cue and stepped inside, pulling Blaine along by his shirt.

"We've already got the bath drawn, but it might be getting a little cold by now," the girl who'd answered the door said as she led them down a winding hallway. Blaine found himself mesmerized by the girl's appearance. He'd never really seen anyone dressed in anything but simple, handmade clothes at home, but this girl was wearing a flowing black garment that swished when she walked. Her ears, fingers, and wrists were adorned with colorful, sparkling jewelry. Her hair was straight and sleek and shiny. It was pretty, he decided, but at the same time it seemed strange to him. Blaine knew absolutely nothing about fashion, and therefore had no idea people anywhere ever actually looked this fancy.

They turned a final corner and were met with the vision of a large room, in the middle of which sat a wooden tub filled with soapy water. The whole room smelled like flowery perfume and the pristine white stone that formed the floor and walls made the place exude a sense of cleanliness. He noticed that two more young women were standing near the tub, looking poised to get started. At this point, the fashionable young girl, Blaine decided she couldn't have possibly been much older than he was, finally turned and looked at him properly.

Her eyes ran up and down his body once. Then she raised an eyebrow and let out a sigh. "Oh yeah," she said, "my boy Kurt is gonna _love_ you."

Blaine felt his eyes bulge at the statement. He heard the two girls standing near the tub giggle.

The fashionable girl turned her attention toward Karofsky. "Good work, Karofsky. Looks like your work is done here."

"Thank God," he said, exasperated. He turned to Blaine, gripping tighter to his shirt as he did so. "Don't think you can pull any funny crap just because I'm leaving," he warned. "I've got my men posted everywhere."

As he said this, Blaine noticed out of the corner of his eye that there were indeed two palace guards, armed with swords, standing near the exits of the room. Blaine had briefly considered running once Karofsky let go of him, but that fantasy was short lived. Blaine knew that even if he did somehow manage to escape from the palace, he would have absolutely nowhere to go. He had no money, no one to help him, and no mode of transportation to get himself back to Daltonia. _Even if I did_, he thought, _I wouldn't even know the way back. Plus, they'd have such a high price on my head that I probably wouldn't even make it to the Lima city limits before I was caught again._ No, running was not a possibility for Blaine. He knew that, at least for now, running away was out of the question.

A twisted smile came over Karofsky's face. "I'll see you at the celebration tonight, pretty boy." Then he dropped his grip on Blaine and walked away.

A shiver ran down Blaine's back. He had to admit, even though he was about to be groomed to perfection just so he could look desirable for a person he'd never met, but would inevitably lose his virginity to, he felt utterly glad that at least he didn't have to be around the smelly bulk that was Karofsky anymore.

"Alright," the fashionable girl said, calling Blaine's attention back to her, "you're not gonna try to strangle me or anything if I untie your hands, right?"

"Oh, um, no," Blaine stuttered, finding himself pleased at the prospect of being able to move his hands independently of each other for the first time in a week.

"Good. I'm Mercedes, by the way," she said as she tugged at the rope on Blaine's wrists.

Blaine couldn't help the smile that came across his face. This was the first person who had been even slightly polite to him since he'd left the vineyard. "Nice to meet you, Mercedes. I'm Blaine."

Mercedes had finished untying his wrists at that moment, and Blaine took the opportunity to extend his hand toward her. She looked down at it and smiled before she accepted his handshake.

"Handsome and polite. You really are going to be perfect for Kurt."

Blaine's smile dwindled at the comment. He didn't want to be perfect for Kurt. He hated that he apparently met all the criteria for being a "perfect" sex toy for some over privileged royal prick.

"That's Sugar and Brittany," Mercedes said, nodding toward the girls still poised by the tub. "I am Prince Kurt's personal stylist and they're my assistants. We're in charge of cleaning you up and getting you all ready for tonight."

"Okay," Blaine answered quietly.

"So strip," she stated, her face completely serious.

Blaine's practically choked on his own breath. "E-excuse me?" he managed to stutter.

"Take your clothes off. We're running low on time here and I need you in that tub. Let's get a move on."

Blaine stood frozen, his eyes darting between the three girls.

Mercedes let out an exasperated sigh. "Oh my God, there is no need to be shy. We've seen practically everyone in this palace naked. You're not going to shock us."

Brittany and Sugar nodded their agreement behind Mercedes.

Speechless and suddenly feeling very hot, Blaine continued to glance between the three girls, and then toward the two guards by the doors. Did they really expect him to strip naked and let them have their way with him? Blaine thought that they must have been joking, but then quickly realized that, actually, that sounded exactly like what his job was supposed to be at the palace. His stomach clenched uneasily and he briefly reconsidered the possibility of running, but he knew that, really, he had no other alternative but to comply. So, with his cheeks burning red, Blaine sighed his surrender and slowly began to remove his work boots.

Blaine could tell the three girls were shooting each other looks and holding back giggles as he lowered his sore, dirty, very naked body into the tub. He was relieved, though, that they didn't make any more comments. He was even more relieved when Mercedes had allowed him to keep his mother's pendant without much protest. She only warned that it would ultimately be up to Prince Kurt if he'd be allowed to keep it or not.

Two hours after slipping into the lukewarm bath water, every inch of Blaine's body had been scrubbed, shaven, trimmed, perfumed, and tweezed to near perfection. He had been ushered in and out of the tub, padded dry and wetted down again, and asked to assume various humiliating positions to allow the girls access to parts of his body he never even knew required attention. After submitting to all of this madness, he'd finally been allowed to wrap a towel around his waist and was directed to sit in a chair in front of the biggest mirror he'd ever seen. Mercedes was working some sort of sticky substance through his new, dramatically shorter hairstyle, Sugar was cleaning and shaping his fingernails, and Brittany was applying some kind of powder to his freshly shaven face and chest.

The girls had been chatting and gossiping throughout their work on Blaine. He'd wanted to join in on several occasions, but didn't know if he was allowed or if it would be appropriate. Even though they were complete strangers and he was being subjected to their endless poking and prodding while he was stark naked, he had to admit to himself that allowing them to clean him up was a vast improvement over the tedious journey to Lima. The girls laughed and joked, and it wasn't all at his expense the way it had been with the guards. It was the most normal human contact he'd received since this ordeal began, and he even found himself gaining hope that maybe everyone in this palace wasn't terrible, and that maybe he would be able to find some friends here eventually.

"Wow," Brittany remarked as she worked, "we haven't done a job this big since we got Prince Finn and Princess Rachel ready for their wedding."

"Oh my God, that was the most stressful day of my life," Mercedes said, working her fingers into Blaine's scalp. "Damn, boy. You have some stubborn curls."

"Yeah, well, they're probably protesting the reason they need to be styled," Blaine replied with a bit of venom before he could think better of it. He found himself suddenly afraid that he'd said something inappropriate, and held his breath waiting to be reprimanded.

Mercedes, however, only smiled. "Oh, so you do have some spunk under all that hair," she remarked.

Blaine smiled shyly back at her in the reflection of the mirror, relieved at the discovery that he could speak candidly around the kind girl.

"Eh, it's okay. It's actually working for you," she continued. "Kurt likes curly hair."

Blaine shifted uncomfortably in his chair at the comment and glued his eyes to the floor in front of him.

The girls noticed his change in demeanor and exchanged knowing glances.

"Hey girls," Mercedes began, "we're almost done here, why don't you leave the finishing touches to me? You can go get yourselves ready for Kurt's party."

"Alright. If you're sure," said Sugar, putting down her nail file.

"Yes I'm sure. I'll see you both at the celebration tonight."

The girls put their things away and headed for the exit. "I'll see you tonight, Blaine," Brittany said, pausing by the doorway. "You're going to be so pretty for my dolphin. I can't wait to see his face!"

Blaine raised an eyebrow in confusion and Mercedes shook her head, letting out a slight chuckle as the girls slid out the door.

"Brittany calls Kurt her dolphin," Mercedes clarified once she and Blaine were alone.

"Oh, okay… are they friends?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah, of course. We're all great friends with Kurt. He's been my best friend since we were little, actually."

Blaine couldn't hold back his surprise. "Prince Kurt is your best friend?"

"Why are you so surprised?" Mercedes asked, smiling.

Blaine shrugged. "I just didn't expect Prince Kurt to be the type who would… I don't know, be nice to his stylist?"

Mercedes kept smiling. "You think he must be a jerk, don't you?"

"No, well, yeah, I mean I don't know. I've just heard things. Like that he's…" Blaine trailed off, not wanting to say something that would be above his station.

"That he's what?" Mercedes was looking directly at the nervous boy via his reflection in the mirror.

"…Promiscuous," Blaine almost whispered, looking down at his toes.

Mercedes stopped kneading her fingers into Blaine's scalp. "Oh boy," she began and came around to the front of his chair to look him in the eye. "Blaine, let me tell you something about Kurt."

Blaine looked up at the pretty stylist.

"Kurt has been… searching ever since he came out. He's a big romantic, and even though he's a prince, he's looking for his own prince charming to come and sweep him off his feet. He's so eager to love and be loved that sometimes he gets carried away. He thinks that every new guy he meets might be the one, and he doesn't want to miss his chance."

"But, doesn't he have to marry another prince? I mean, I know it's not conventional because he's gay, but don't royals have to marry other royals? Why does he waste his time on guys who can't even marry?"

"Kurt's never been one for following traditions. I doubt he's even considering the fact that he has to marry another royal. He's always been uncomfortable with the class distinctions and he's all about blurring the lines. That's how he's such good friends with me and all his staff. Because he doesn't think he's better than us."

Blaine continued to look at the floor, letting Mercedes's words sink in. He hadn't expected to hear such positive things about the prince.

"You know, he didn't even want his dad to get him a slave for his birthday."

Blaine's head snapped up. "What? Why?"

"Because of what I just said! He told me that he thinks the tradition is outdated and unnecessary, and he doesn't believe in treating people as inferiors."

Blaine was utterly stunned. "So, why am I even here then?"

Mercedes shrugged simply and picked up a pair of tweezers. She started attacking Blaine's left eyebrow before she answered his question. "Because King Burt is one for tradition. He loves Kurt, and he normally respects his wishes, but this custom is hundreds of years old and the people expect it. If Kurt isn't presented with a virgin for his birthday tonight, the people will be outraged."

"Why? It's none of their business what the prince gets for his birthday, is it?"

"Some people already think King Burt has made too many changes during his rule. Some more small minded citizens think he's too liberal with Kurt and lets him get away too much. King Burt knows how to pick his battles. Giving Kurt a personal slave is a small thing he can do to avoid turmoil, so he'll do it."

"People would get that upset about it?"

"It seems like a small thing, but people against King Burt will take any little excuse they can find to cause problems for him."

"I see," Blaine stated, still trying to process all of this new information. He never would have dreamed that he, a poor farm boy from Daltonia, would ever be a pawn in the king's attempt to avoid turmoil in the kingdom. In the past, what with his mother's illness and his father's money troubles, Blaine hadn't had much time to pay attention to the politics of the kingdom. However, he had paid enough attention to know that he was in favor of many of King Burt's changes and new laws. It was King Burt who had legalized homosexual marriage in the kingdom, which he did even before Kurt came out. He had established several new laws regarding the proper treatment of slaves, including the one that would allow his brother, a father to be, to be freed when his child was born. Blaine was also aware that some of the more conservative, old-minded citizens were offended by these changes.

Suddenly, Blaine found that the whole reason behind him being brought there was so much more than he had ever imagined. He let out a massive sigh, feeling a bit overwhelmed, and began wringing his now perfectly manicured hands together.

Mercedes picked up on the nervous mannerisms and set down the tweezers.

"It's normal to be nervous, Blaine," she began. "I'd be concerned if you weren't apprehensive about tonight. I know Kurt is… experienced, but I can tell you that he would never want to make you uncomfortable. He has a big heart. Just give him a chance, okay?"

Blaine couldn't help the small laugh that escaped his lips. "You make him sound so great."

Mercedes smiled wide. "He really is, Blaine. You have nothing to worry about. I promise."

Blaine found that he was able to return her genuine smile. Her words were really starting to sink into his brain. Her reassurance made him feel like at least a tiny bit of weight was removed from his chest and for the first time, Blaine thought that maybe, just _maybe_, this predicament wouldn't be _absolutely_ terrible.


	4. Ch 4: Eyes

**Chapter 4**

**Eyes**

Blaine looked down in disgust at the outfit Mercedes had put him in. The one piece, toga-like garment clung tight to his waist and hips while leaving his arms and half his chest exposed. He turned an examined himself in the mirror, observing with revulsion how the shimmery white fabric glistened with his movements.

"Mercedes, tell me again why I have to wear this?"

Mercedes sighed. "Tradition, sweetie. The traditional garb for the virgin gift is a floor length white gown. Since you're the first male to ever be given to a prince, I had to do some alterations. This toga thing is as masculine as I could go without completely losing touch with the custom. And quit moving. I need to finish this," she said as she stitched a last minute hem on the bottom of the garment, which only reached down to his mid-thigh. "Voila! All done. You are finally ready for your debut."

Blaine made a face as he continued to stare at his reflection. He barely recognized the boy staring back at him. His unruly girls had been cut and styled into a hard, gleaming helmet of hair. His face had been shaven so close that it was startling to him. Blaine hadn't been completely stubble free since he was fourteen. He was perfumed and powdered; he even had glitter glinting subtly off his arms and chest. Blaine couldn't decide if he looked good or not. To him, this new look was so different that he couldn't even compare it to the shaggy guy he was used to seeing in the mirror. He turned in a circle, in awe of his own bizarre appearance, one more time before Mercedes grabbed his wrist and pulled him away from the mirror. "Did you need to make it so tight around my ass? It looks enormous," he commented as she dragged him down a corridor.

"Blaine, shut up. You look hot, so I know I did my job right, okay? The white looks perfect with your tan and, trust me, your ass looks amazing, as it should."

Blaine blushed deeply at the comment, and at the fact that he could feel the fabric riding up around his hips as he walked. Mercedes hadn't let him keep his underwear. "No underwear," she'd said, "for the sake of easy access."

"Come _on_," Mercedes groaned as she tugged harder on Blaine. "We have ten minutes before Kurt is supposed to be presented with his gift and we have to get all the way across the palace to the ballroom."

Blaine pulled the garment back down as far as he could and kept a hand on the bottom hem to keep in place as they moved through the castle. Not _everyone_ in the palace needed to see his ass tonight.

They were both practically panting when they arrived outside a grand doorway that Blaine assumed had to be the ballroom. Music and a cacophony of voices could be heard on the other side of the door. Prince Kurt's birthday party was clearly in full swing.

"I have to hand you over to Puck now," Mercedes said, straightening Blaine's toga on his shoulder. "He's Kurt's head personal guard, so he'll be yours by extension."

"I get my own personal guard?"

"You get the protection of _Kurt's_ personal guards. That's Puck and Mike for the most part. They'll make sure you don't get lost or murdered, but it's also their job to make sure you don't run away." She shot him a warning look. "But they work for Kurt, not you. So you don't get to order them around, okay? You have to listen to them."

"Yeah, okay. Fine," Blaine said, suddenly feeling more nervous than ever now that he was so close to meeting the prince.

Then, as if on cue, a muscley guard with a mohawk and mischievous smirk emerged from the other side of the doorway. "Ahh, there he is. The man if the hour," he said, approaching Blaine and slapping a heavy hand on his shoulder. The guard looked Blaine up and down and then turned to Mercedes. "Nice work, Mercedes. I'm not even gay and he's doing it for me."

Blaine's eyebrows shot up and he suddenly felt very uncomfortable with this guy's hand on his shoulder.

"Don't mind Puck, Blaine. That's just how he talks," Mercedes reassured him. "Alright, I have to get in there. The king will announce you and then Puck will bring you in. I can't wait to see Kurt's expression when he lays eyes on you." Blaine was startled when she suddenly grabbed him up in a hug. "Good luck," she whispered in his ear before pulling away and turning to enter the ballroom.

"Wait!" Blaine blurted before she could get away. He was definitely letting his extreme nerves get the better of him at this point. "When… when will I see you again?" he said, trying to keep his composure and not dissolve into a nervous mess.

Mercedes smiled at the scared boy. "I don't know. It'll really be up to Kurt, but I'm sure it won't be long." She reached out and gave his arm a comforting squeeze.

Blaine nodded his understanding. "Thank you, Mercedes," he said, "for everything."

Blaine heard King Burt call for a toast, wish his son a happy eighteenth birthday, and call attention to the door of the ballroom for the presentation of his gift. Puck ushered Blaine into the grand ballroom and hundreds if not thousands of eyes landed on Blaine simultaneously. He focused on looking straight ahead as he walked. He didn't notice any of the splendor of the room or the elegance of the guests. He was too distracted with trying not to let the deafening sound of his own heart pounding in his ears cause him to fall on his face.

"_Stand up straight, Blaine_," Joel's voice sounded in his head. "_Don't let them think you're vulnerable. Look strong. Let them know you're worth something_." Blaine clung to the words his brother had whispered into his ear the day they'd stood on the platform at the slave auction two months prior. The advice seemed even more relevant now than it had then. He straightened his shoulders and held his chin high as he moved blindly toward the front of the room, toward Prince Kurt and toward his uncertain future.

When the royal family came into his view, all gathered behind their long dining table at the front of the huge room, Blaine realized he'd stopped breathing. He let out a slow breath as he took the last steps up to the table. A bald, smiling King Burt was standing with the glass he'd used to begin his toast to Kurt still in hand. A middle-aged woman with short brown hair who had to be Queen Carol, Kurt's stepmother, was seated to the king's right. Blaine assumed that the tall, gawky looking young man and the petite brunette sitting on the king's other side had to be Queen Carol's son Prince Finn and his wife Princess Rachel. Blaine suddenly felt an odd sense of awe come over him at actually seeing the royal family in the flesh. He had to consciously tell himself to not let his mouth fall open in wonder. The whole scene was something so far removed from what he'd known in Daltonia that he could hardly believe he was still living the same life as he had been a week ago.

He stared at the elegantly dressed monarchial family for a few seconds before it finally occurred to him that he should bow. He lowered himself into a deep bow, and stayed in that position for a moment until King Burt spoke again.

"To my son, Kurt, in the grand tradition of our kingdom, I present his first personal servant as a tribute to his rite of passage into adulthood. Congratulations, Kurt. A father couldn't ask for a better son or a prouder moment to celebrate." The king finished his toast and the crowd erupted into cheers and applause. There was a cacophonous sound of wine glasses clinking in honor of the prince's 'passage into adulthood.'

Amongst all the cheering, Blaine rose from his bow, making sure to straighten his shoulders proudly once again, and willed himself to follow the king's eye line to where Kurt was sitting.

Sure enough, sitting at the end of the long royal dining table, surrounded on all sides by an entourage of attractive young people, was a lean young man with skin like porcelain. The impeccably dressed young prince sat relaxed into his chair with one shiny, pointed shoe crossed casually over his knee. His left hand rested on the table, pale fingers wrapped around the stem of a wine glass. Blaine found himself not breathing again as he examined the prince's face. It looked stone cold and frightening, yet completely captivating at the same time. Prince Kurt's sharp features were set in an expression of indignation that certainly wasn't befitting of a young prince who'd just been given his very own virgin to have his way with. In fact, the prince had yet to even look at his gift properly. He just glared at his father through slitted eyes as if he would have crawled across the table to kill him if there weren't hundreds of party guests toasting in his honor at that moment.

Blaine recalled the conversation he'd had with Mercedes in which she'd told him that Kurt hadn't wanted a slave for his birthday, but that train of thought stopped dead when the prince's piercing glare suddenly snapped to him. The intensity of the stare made his stomach feel like it had flipped over in his abdomen. Blaine actually felt his knees quiver as his new master's eyes bore into him. He tried to swallow but found that his mouth had gone completely dry.

"Bow," Puck whispered from next to him.

Blaine obeyed immediately and bent into an even lower bow toward Kurt than he'd given the king, feeling relieved to have an excuse to break the intense eye contact. He could hear that the crowd's excitement at the announcement had died down and the sound of the disjointed chatter of all the guests returned to the ballroom. When Blaine came back up from his bow, the prince was no longer glaring at him. The entourage of people surrounding Kurt, who Blaine assumed had to be his friends, had followed suit with the rest of the guests and were all talking amongst themselves, apparently now bored with looking at the prince's gift. Kurt, however, was not joining in the conversation.

The prince had turned his attention back to his father. Blaine looked back and forth between the royal father and son. At first, they just appeared to be staring at each other, but when Blaine looked closer he noticed that they were indeed communicating. King Burt widened his eyes at the prince as an unspoken plea for him not to cause a scene. Kurt simply responded with the cocking of one eyebrow. The young prince then brought his almost full glass of wine to his lips and drained the entire thing without breaking eye contact with his father. Blaine noticed that the rest of the family was also glancing between the king and his heir, looking uneasy and even frightened about how the notoriously rebellious, outspoken Kurt would react to his unwanted gift.

Blaine was beginning to feel even more uncomfortable standing in front of the royal family. There had obviously been a lot of tension built up surrounding his presence in the palace, and he had no idea how to act or how to feel about it. He knew from Mercedes that King Burt had ignored Kurt's feelings on the subject and decided to carry out the tradition in order to please the more conservative citizens of the kingdom. He wondered just how mad Kurt really was that his father had bought him a slave despite his wishes. What did an angry master mean for him?

Blaine shifted his weight between his feet, not sure how to feel. Half of him wished the prince would just look at him again so he wouldn't feel so useless standing there, but the other half was terrified of meeting his firey gaze again. All he could do was continue to watch the wordless conversation taking place between the king and his crowned prince.

After a few more seconds, Kurt finally broke his trance on his father and stood. He grabbed a glass of wine which belonged to one of his friends and swallowed its contents in one gulp, much to the girl's dismay. Then the prince turned on his heel and marched over to a tall, muscular blond guy with a huge mouth who was standing on the edge of his entourage. The blond man's face flushed with welcome surprise when Kurt grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him toward the door behind them. The two of them sauntered out of the ballroom with mischievous expressions. The prince left without so much as glancing back his new present.

Blaine was stunned. He had no idea what kind of reaction to expect from Prince Kurt when they saw each other for the first time, but he never imagined that he would be completely ignored. Not only had he been ignored, but he'd been completely rejected in favor of what Kurt saw as a better option to hold his attention for the night. Indeed, of all the possible scenarios that Blaine had imagined playing out his first night at the palace, Kurt running off to have sex with someone else hadn't been one of them. He couldn't honestly say that he minded, though. It came as quite a relief to Blaine when he realized that maybe he'd be able to stay a virgin for at least one more night.


	5. Ch 5: I'm Not Okay

**Chapter 5**

**I'm (Not) Okay**

"I sent Mike to follow Kurt to make sure he doesn't get himself into too much trouble, but knowing Kurt, he won't be back to his room tonight," Puck explained in an almost apologetic tone as he guided Blaine through the corridors that led to Kurt's private quarters.

"So, what does that mean? What am I supposed to do?" Blaine questioned.

"Well, you are officially supposed to remain in Prince Kurt's bedchamber at all times unless he says otherwise. So, since he didn't say otherwise, I guess you'll just have to stick it out in there until the morning. He'll be back then. He always comes back in the morning to bathe and change his clothes." Puck talked about Kurt's antics like they were completely routine. Blaine wondered exactly how often Kurt spent the night elsewhere.

"You're not even concerned about where he went?" Blaine found it slightly strange that the prince's own personal guards seemed to have such cavalier attitudes toward his behavior. When Blaine had been at home with his father, he wasn't even allowed to leave the farm unless his dad knew exactly where he was going and who he'd be with. Staying out all night like Kurt would have been absolutely out of the question. He'd had to follow very strict rules and he wasn't even anyone important, so it amazed him that Kurt, the only heir to the throne of the entire kingdom, would be allowed to do whatever he wanted.

"I sent Mike with him, don't worry. Mike knows what to do. He's a good guard. Trained him myself. Besides, Kurt left with Sam and everyone knows that Sam's, like, one of Kurt's oldest flings. We know exactly where he is."

Blaine's eyes widened at Puck's matter-of-fact tone. One_ of Kurt's oldest flings? As in he has multiple, ongoing 'flings?' _Blaine let out an audible groan as he began to think about exactly how many people Kurt must have had sex with, and how many he continues to have sex with on regular basis. He wondered how one person could throw himself around so much and not end up a complete emotional wreck. Didn't the prince have any feelings at all? Would he end up unloading all sorts of pent up emotional baggage onto his new servant?

Blaine's train of thought was broken when Puck spoke again.

"Here we are," the guard stated. They had stopped outside an intricately carved wooden door. Puck selected a golden key from the ring on his belt and began to unlock Prince Kurt's bedchamber. "Home sweet home." Puck moved aside and ushered Blaine into the room.

His eyes were immediately blown wide in awe. Blaine had never seen, nor could he have ever imagined such a beautifully decorated, lavish bedroom. He stood in speechless wonderment while Puck moved over toward the massive four poster bed on the left.

The stone floor and walls of the spacious room were covered with colorful, elaborate rugs and tapestries with images ranging from hunting scenes to duels to beautifully dressed women in ball gowns. There was a lot of color going on, but somehow everything seemed to match seamlessly. Blaine's eyes drifted to the large windows across from the doorway. The windows reached regally from the floor to the ceiling, revealing a breathtaking night view of the city below. In front of the windows were several plush chairs and a sofa that formed an inviting sitting area. Upon turning to his right, Blaine's eyes befell the most massive bookshelf he'd ever seen. A smile pulled at his lips while he took in the sight of more books than he could have ever hoped to read in a lifetime back home.

"This room. Is. Incredible," Blaine breathed.

"Best in the palace besides the king and queen's," Puck replied. "I'm glad you like it because you'll be spending a lot of time in here." The guard watched with a smirk while Blaine surveyed the room in a daze. He let the boy gawk for a moment longer before demanding his attention. "Over here is your dresser."

Blaine's head snapped to Puck, who was gesturing to a small chest of drawers near the bed.

"It's already been stocked with clothes. It's mostly just comfortable linen stuff, but there is some more formal stuff in there for when Kurt decides to take you somewhere."

"Okay," Blaine replied, feeling excited at the prospect of being able to change out of the awful toga he was wearing.

"The whole top drawer is a bunch of different underwear. I was looking through it earlier. All I can say is good luck figuring some of it out…"

"Wh-what?" Blaine squeaked, feeling mortified by what he was hearing.

"I don't know, man. I guess Mercedes must have wanted to cover her bases when she stocked it. Maybe Kurt has a weird underwear fetish? All I know is some of them involve some complicated looking straps."

Blaine's mouth dropped. He made a mental note to kill Mercedes for this the next time he saw her. "You went through my underwear drawer?" he asked, suddenly feeling a bit lightheaded.

Puck shrugged. "It's just kind of a hobby of mine, dude."

Blaine shook his head in disbelief. Disbelief about the fact that he now had an entire drawer filled with suggestive undergarments and about the fact that Puck was exhibiting signs of being even more of a sex addict than Kurt.

"Don't worry. I'm sure it'll all look sexy as hell on you…"

"Alright!" Blaine interjected, his cheeks burning red. "Let's change the subject please. What's through these doors?"

Puck smirked at the blushing boy. He loved giving people a hard time about sex, especially virgins. But he figured this guy had already been through enough for one day and decided to humor him. "Alright, alright. Through this door here is the bathroom." Puck pointed to a closed door next to the dresser. "An attendant comes in pretty early every morning to draw Prince Kurt's bath, so don't be surprised if you get waken up."

"Okay," Blaine said, grateful for the change in subject. He vaguely wondered if someone would draw baths for him too or if he would be expected to use the water once Kurt was done, or if he was supposed to share baths with Kurt… A small shudder ran down his spine at that thought.

"That door over there," Puck continued, pointing across the room to a door next to the bookshelf, "leads to Kurt's closet. I'm only gonna warn you once not to go inside. Prince Kurt will absolutely _slaughter_ you if he catches you in there. If there is one thing he loves more than cock, it's clothes."

Blaine winced at Puck's blunt statement. He was feeling more uncomfortable around the guard by the minute. He knew that Puck was just joking, or that he was just completely unaware of his crudeness, but either way Blaine was beginning to tire of his comments. Actually, he was just tired in general. It had been one of the most taxing days of his life and he really just wanted to be alone with his thoughts and go to sleep.

He nodded his understanding about the closet and then broke out in a huge yawn.

Luckily for Blaine, Puck took his yawn as his cue to leave. "Okay, well, I'll leave you to it then. Umm, make yourself at home, I guess."

"Thanks, Puck."

The guard smiled at the boy. "Oh yeah. There'll be a guard stationed outside the door at all times while you're in here. Just so you know."

"Okay."

"Alright, well, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Puck left the lavish bedroom and Blaine heard the deadbolt move into place.

He let out a huge sigh when he was finally alone. Walking over toward the gigantic bed, Blaine ran his hands through his hair in an attempt to loosen his curls from the hard helmet Mercedes had created hours before. This was the first time he'd been alone in over a week and he could not have cared less about what he looked like anymore.

Blaine approached the bed and looked down at the luxurious, fluffy white comforter. It looked so soft and warm that Blaine would have loved nothing more than to slip underneath it and let his exhausted mind and body doze off. But he couldn't bring himself to do it.

A strong wave of uneasiness came over him as his eyes traced the large blue K that was stitched into the comforter. This was not his bed. He didn't belong in it. He belonged on the pile of hay that he shared with Joel back in Daltonia, not the crowned prince's private love pad. A tear rolled down his cheek as he continued to stare at the bed. Shivers started racking through the farm boy's body. He curled his arms around his shaking body and sank to the floor.

Blaine could not stop the sobs that started to erupt from him. He pulled his knees to his chest and closed his eyes tight. He tried to imagine that he was back home on the dairy farm, lying on the rug in front of the fireplace that his mother had woven like he used to do when he was little. He thought of his mother and her kind smile. He thought of the times his father had gotten out his guitar and played songs in the evenings for no reason at all. He thought of how he and Joel had danced and read and played together without a care in the world. In that moment, Blaine wished life could be so simple again.

As he lay there, curled up on the floor next to Kurt's bed, his mind wandered through the onslaught of emotions that had come at him since this ordeal began. He had no idea how to feel. Of course he missed his family and his home, and he was worried about Joel who, he thought, must have been going absolutely insane with concern about his little brother. He was angry that he had been brought to Lima to carry out a stupid, outdated tradition when really, Prince Kurt didn't even want him in the first place. And he was still utterly scandalized by the fact that he had an entire drawer dedicated to Kurt's supposed underwear kink.

But despite all of this, Blaine searched for a positive, just like he always tried to do. There was Mercedes. She had been genuinely kind to him and given him at least a little peace of mind about Kurt's crazy sexual escapades. Blaine hoped that Kurt would let him see Mercedes again soon. He really needed a friend.

There was the fact that he'd been allowed, at least for now, to keep his mother's pendant. Blaine held the small golden circle in his hand protectively.

When it came down to it, Blaine decided, he was grateful that he was still breathing, he was still sane, and he was still _okay_.

"I'm okay. I'll be okay," he whispered into the darkness, hoping that somehow hearing himself say it might make him believe it.

But Blaine wasn't completely okay. There was one thing that nagged his mind and left him feeling more scared and unsure than any of the rest of it. One thing that made his heart twist in confusion and scream in frustration. More than anything, he wished he didn't feel the way he was feeling. He wished it wasn't true, but it was.

He'd seen Kurt. Kurt had seen him. They'd made eye contact for a moment that felt like forever. The prince's eyes were blue. They were blue and deep and, as much as Blaine hated to admit it, they were the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen.

* * *

**Hello all! Thank you so much for reading my story. I hope you're enjoying it thus far... a review or two would help me know what's up... I'm sorry if it's a bit slow, I just needed to get a lot of feelings out of Blaine and set up a lot of background. Rest assured, though, that Blaine will officially meet Kurt in the next chapter and the pace will pick up. Stay gold and stay tuned!**


	6. Ch 6: Reality Check

**Chapter 6 **

**Reality Check**

_ Blaine lay in his bed of hay next to Joel, looking up at the stars through the hole in the barn roof. He sighed contentedly, glad that even though he'd lost his parents and his freedom, he still had his brother and he still had the same stars to fall asleep to as he'd always had before. He let himself drift away for a while, just getting lost in the endless array of bright lights twinkling peacefully above him. Life was simple this way – when no one was ordering him around, when no one was taking anything away from him. It was just him and the stars and his thoughts, and nothing could ever interfere. _

_ As Blaine stared up at the blanket of stars, he found himself becoming entranced by two big ones in particular. He continued to stare, and as he did he noticed that the two bright stars appeared to be growing. They were getting bigger and brighter and they began moving closer and closer. They began to grow so big that their intensity blocked out all of the rest of the stars, and they were the only things he could see. Then, right before his eyes, the stars changed their sheen to a hypnotic, dazzling blue and they dropped out of the sky so low that they were hovering just above his head. _

_ Blaine tried to move for fear that the two blue orbs would fall down on him and burn him with their incredible heat. But he found that he could not. His arms and legs would not respond to his mental pleading for them to move, and he continued to lay and be engulfed by the blue stars. _

_ The next thing Blaine registered was the feeling of hands on his body – hot, intrusive, unwanted hands. He felt them move across the back of his legs and shoulders, gripping firmly and lifting him up. He continued to try to squirm away from the unwanted contact, but he was powerless against it. Invisible arms held him tightly and began to carry him away._

_ "Joel!" he screamed into the blue blindness that pervaded his senses. "Joel, help me!"_

_ But no one answered his pleading cries. He could do nothing but lie still for what must have been hours and allow himself to be enfolded into the unyielding hold of the blue orbs._

"Hey. Hey, wake up."

Blaine bolted awake at the sound of the musical voice and the gentle jostling of his arm. He whipped his head around in sleepy confusion, half blinded by the early morning sunlight flooding in from the huge windows. It only took him a moment to remember that he was not in a barn in Daltonia, but rather he had fallen asleep on the crowned prince's bedroom floor.

_A dream_, he perceived. _The blue was just a dream_.

He took a deep breath of relief before another wave of confusion rolled through him. He registered that he was not in the same spot where he'd drifted into his fitful sleep. He felt the sensation of softness beneath him and the warm pressure of a thick blanket overtop of him. Blaine realized that he had been tucked into Prince Kurt's bed.

And then, before he could fully comprehend what was happening, he looked up to find those already so familiar blue eyes staring down at him.

Blaine swallowed hard. _The blue stars_.

There was the prince, standing bare-chested next to the bed, his arm extended toward the boy wrapped in his comforter, still poised from gently shaking the stranger awake.

"Morning," Prince Kurt stated with what looked like a nervous expression.

A panic erupted in Blaine's mind. Horribly confused by the logistics of the situation, all he could do was gape open mouthed at the underwear clad prince above him. Blaine had no recollection of getting into the bed and no idea what might have happened after he'd been placed there. Just the mere fact that he was in the bed made him feel violated. Did Kurt put him there? Was that the sensation of hands on his body that he'd felt in his sleep? Why wasn't Kurt wearing clothes? Blaine's breathing quickened as a thousand different scenarios of possible defilements flashed across his mind.

The prince continued to look down at him and every nerve in Blaine's body was screaming at him to move, to put distance between him and the almost naked blue eyed man. This time, his arms and legs listened to him. He sprang into a sitting position, threw the covers off of him, and shuffled backward off the bed. All Blaine could think in that moment was that the more furniture he could but between him and his new master, the better.

Blaine backed against the wall of the room like a hunter's bewildered prey being cornered. His breathing had become erratic and his head was starting to spin.

"Woah, woah, woah!" the prince exclaimed, putting his hands out in front of him as if to show that he wasn't in possession of any weapons. "Blaine, right? Blaine, it's not what you think! I'm sorry! It's just… it's time to get up and you're the heaviest sleeper I've ever seen. I won't touch you again, I promise!"

Blaine was surprised by how startled the prince looked. Kurt seemed almost as nervous Blaine felt. Blaine took several deep breaths and tried to calm himself down. He willed his eyes to break their fixation on the prince's face and he slowly took in the rest of his appearance. Kurt was dressed in nothing but a pair of black underpants. His hair was not the perfectly quaffed sculpture it had been the night before, but rather it was quite disheveled and sticking out in all directions.

Now, being so close to Kurt with the sunlight from the window to the right gleaming across his almost naked body, Blaine could see that it was more than just his eyes that were captivating. His long, lean body was smooth and sinuous; his muscles were surprisingly defined for how thin he appeared. With his brown hair all tousled, he looked fresh and completely uncensored. Blaine was seeing him in his raw form, free of products or makeup or fancy clothing, and he felt that unwelcome twinge of guilt and dread creep into his stomach when he realized the prince was absolutely, entrancingly gorgeous.

Blaine swallowed hard again and quickly shook his head in order to snap himself out his trance and focus on the crisis at hand.

"Wh-why? …how?" he choked out between ragged breaths. In the back of his mind, Blaine knew he should probably address the prince more formally, but he was on the verge of a mental breakdown if he didn't get answers, protocol be damned. Blaine motioned toward the bed. "Did you… I mean, did we…" Blaine trailed off, gesturing vaguely between the prince and himself.

Kurt's eyebrows immediately raised in alarm. "No! No, not at all!" he replied. "I came back last night and you had already checked out on my floor. I thought it was pretty weird but I was like, 'hey, give the guy a break. He's probably had a really long day.' I wasn't going to bother you, but you were shivering. You looked so cold and restless, plus you were kind of blocking my path to the bathroom, so I just figured I'd get you to move to the bed. You wouldn't wake up though. Like I said, you're the heaviest sleeper I've ever seen. So I kind of…just picked you up and moved you." Kurt bit his lip after his long-winded explanation, looking slightly embarrassed.

Blaine stared for a moment, his expression dripping with skepticism. "You picked me up and moved me?"

A smile pulled at the prince's lips. "I'm stronger than I look. And you were surprisingly light."

"Well why," Blaine paused, feeling embarrassed at his question, "why aren't you wearing clothes?"

Kurt glanced down at his nearly naked body like he had no idea he wasn't fully clothed. A hint of pink entered the prince's cheeks. "Sorry, I guess I'm going to have to get used to living with a roommate… I just kind of… like being naked."

"I see," Blaine replied, still a bit skeptical, but totally willing to believe that Kurt liked to be naked.

"I'm really sorry I scared you so badly. I should have thought about how confusing this would look to you." Kurt ran a hand through his messy hair. "God, this is not how I wanted your first impression of me to be."

Blaine was shocked at how vulnerable Kurt looked at that moment. He looked genuinely sorry for scaring him so badly and his eyes were full of what appeared to be real remorse. The prince bit his lip again and scrunched his eyebrows, clearly deep in thought. He looked innocent as a baby penguin. Blaine decided then and there that Kurt must have been telling the truth and that he was sincerely sorry. It was either that or he was the best actor in the entire world.

"It's okay," Blaine practically whispered.

"No, no it's not," Kurt replied quickly, brow still furrowed in thought. "I can imagine what you must think of me. You probably think I'm some kind of out of control spoiled rich boy who can't keep it in his pants. You must think I just take advantage of everybody. No wonder you're terrified of me."

Blaine really couldn't argue with that summation, so he remained silent.

There was a tense pause in which the two boys merely stared at one another: Blaine not sure how to react to Kurt's sudden show of real emotion, and Kurt simply taking in the view of new, clearly frightened, clearly uncomfortable slave and marveling at the fact that his father had really gone through with purchasing him.

Blaine followed Kurt's ocean eyes as the swept over his still toga-clad body and then returned to his face. Then, in complete contrast to the look of innocence he was sporting a moment before, the prince put on a smirk and let out a barely audible laugh. He shook his head again and rolled his eyes as he turned away from Blaine and started walking toward his closet door.

"You're really from Daltonia," Kurt stated rather than asked as he strode across the room. "I can't believe the bastard actually followed through…" The other boy heard him mutter.

Blaine found himself completely confused by the prince's sudden change in subject and demeanor. He remained leaning against the wall he'd backed into and watched his nearly naked master disappear into his closet. Who did he mean by the bastard, and what did he follow through with? As desperate for answers as ever, Blaine peeled himself away from the wall and followed in the taller boy's tracks to the other side of the room. Now that he had calmed down from his unexpected wake up, he figured he should probably try to address the prince properly.

"Uh, um, Your Highness?" Blaine asked awkwardly outside the door of the closet, remembering Puck's warning to never go inside.

"Kurt," the prince's voice replied from within.

"Excuse me?" Blaine asked, trying to sound as polite as possible without revealing the nervous tremor in his voice.

"Call me Kurt. Everyone does. And, before you even try, please don't ever bow to me again. I _hate_ it when people bow," he added.

"Oh, um, okay," Blaine began, "I was just wondering, if I may, what did you mean by that… about the bastard following through?"

There was a pause during which Blaine could hear the rustling of fabric from inside the closet. A moment later Kurt suddenly reappeared, dressed in a fitted, immaculately white fencing ensemble.

Blaine's breath caught in his throat. That was certainly not the outfit he'd expected Kurt to emerge in. Sports and Kurt were two things he never would have thought would mix.

"Sorry if it seems like I'm being rude right now, but I really have to get ready for my fencing lesson." Seeing Blaine's clear astonishment spelled out on his face, Kurt merely smirked and said, "I know, I know. I don't strike you as the athletic type. But I've been fencing practically since I could walk. How did you think I got strong enough to move sleeping boys off of my floor?"

"I – oh," Blaine replied lamely, unable to form a coherent thought when he saw how the white fabric clung to the prince's toned legs.

"My father's the bastard," Kurt stated plainly, brushing past Blaine and heading back across the suite to the bathroom.

It took Blaine a moment to register that that statement was an answer to his previous question.

"Follow me," the prince commanded.

Blaine obeyed, not because he felt like he had to because he was Kurt's slave, but because he really wanted to hear the rest of Kurt's answer.

"I suppose I owe it to you to explain exactly why you ended up here. Here it goes. A few months ago, my dad asked me what I wanted for my eighteenth birthday. I said I wanted another horse," Kurt began, entering the white marble bathroom and heading directly for the mirror. "He said 'Kurt, that's not what I mean. I'm asking you what you want your servant to be like. You know, physically.'" Kurt caught Blaine's eye in his reflection in the mirror. "I wanted to absolutely _gag_," he said as he started to rub some sort of ointment on his face.

"So I told him, 'Dad, I do not want nor do I need my own personal virgin to deflower. That tradition is totally archaic.'"

Blaine blushed at the passing reference to his implied sexual inexperience.

"Then he said he knew I'd say that, but if my _behavior_ didn't change soon, then he'd get me a servant in the hopes that it would calm me down. 'You know, Kurt,' he said, 'it really might help, having someone there all the time. You wouldn't have to go out looking for it all the time and you'd draw a lot less negative attention to yourself and the family.'"

Blaine knew that the 'it' Kurt was referring to was sex. The plan made sense, he supposed. Keep Kurt occupied inside the palace walls and he wouldn't have to go wild all over the city. Mercedes had said that King Burt worried about the reputation Kurt had built up for himself and about how his son's negative image reflected on his rule. Blaine frowned as the realization dawned on him that the king was expecting him to put out enough to keep Kurt's sex drive at a reasonable level. As Blaine watched Kurt run his hands through his tangled bed-head of hair from the previous night, he thought that this seemed like a tall order to say the least.

"So just to humor him I told him I liked Daltonians, thinking he'd never want to put that much effort and expense into getting me a servant. Daltonia is the farthest region away from Lima, as you know."

Oh yes, Blaine knew that piece of trivia very well. He still had quite a bit of saddle soreness to show for that unbelievably long trek.

"But alas, the bastard surprised me, and here you are." Kurt motioned to Blaine standing in the doorway. "I guess he doesn't think I've settled down enough. It doesn't surprise me though, that he hasn't noticed my effort. I mean, I haven't missed a single lesson since that talk and I've only gone out into the city…" Kurt paused to silently count on his fingers. "Seven or eight times. That's not even once a week since then!"

Blaine got the sense at this point that Kurt was ranting more to himself than explaining anything to him, but he was utterly fascinated by this insight into what the prince had to say about his own 'behavior,' so he leaned against the doorframe, stayed silent, and listened.

"But no, he refuses to see any of the positives. He always focuses in on the slip-ups. I know he just thinks of me as this incurable, lust-driven bag of hormones. God forbid he'd actually take the time to sit down and talk about anything with me anymore. Maybe then he'd know that I don't just throw myself around like he thinks I do. Like, take last night for example. I bet he totally thinks I went off to sleep with Sam."

Blaine snapped back to attention at that. "Wait, you, uh… you didn't?" he asked, hoping that wasn't totally out of line to ask a prince.

Kurt turned away from the mirror to face his wide-eyed birthday present. He crossed his arms across his chest with indignation before he replied. "No, Blaine, I didn't," he stated with a bit of venom. "Contrary to popular belief, I don't just sleep with people for kicks." He turned back to the mirror where he continued to work a substance through his now tamer looking hair. "Sam and I just make out from time to time. I've only ever had sex with people that I thought I was in love with."

Blaine could see the look of shock come over his own face in the mirror. He couldn't believe Kurt was saying these things to him. He was so different than Blaine had initially expected. The prince that stood before him wasn't the heartless, spoiled player that he seemed to be to the outside eye. He was just a boy, not unlike himself, who was complex and vulnerable and sought his father's approval the same way every son did. It was suddenly crystal clear to Blaine that Mercedes had been right; Prince Kurt was nothing more than a regular person who wanted to be loved just like any other regular person.

"If you'd have still been conscious last night, you would have noted that I got back to the room almost right after you did. I used to stay out all night a lot, but hardly ever anymore."

Blaine scrunched his eyebrows in thought, trying to put the pieces together. "But, your hair… and you were in your underwear," he said.

Kurt rolled his eyes in exasperation. "People have _got_ to stop judging me based off of appearances!" He turned around once again to face Blaine. "It's like I said. I like to be naked. It's comfortable. So when I got back to the room and I saw that you were asleep and I moved you to the bed, I stripped my clothes off. In the privacy of my own room. Sue me."

Kurt started to stride toward the doorway and Blaine barely managed to get out of his way before he barged back into the bedroom.

"If you look over there," he said emphatically, pointing a rigid finger toward the mahogany desk littered with books and papers near the bookcases, "you'll see my homework. I was up all night literally pulling my hair out trying to finish it. My tutor is coming tomorrow and I have no idea how to do any of it, so excuse me if my hair was a little disheveled this morning!" Kurt was practically yelling at that point, causing Blaine to flinch and want to cower back into the bathroom and lock the door.

For the first time since this ordeal began, Blaine felt like _he_ was the asshole in the situation. Kurt was completely right. He was always being judged by completely arbitrary things, and even Blaine himself had not hesitated to think the worst of him, even after Mercedes had told him his perception was wrong. Blaine realized then that the prince was under so much more pressure than he'd ever imagined. It must be maddening, he thought, to only have people notice when you screw up and never praise you for what you do right.

"I'm sorry," Blaine finally said after a long silence. He looked at the floor, afraid to meet Kurt's eye. "You're right. People really shouldn't be so quick to judge you."

Kurt let out a sigh, unable to be mad at his new servant when he looked so adorably guilty. "It's alright. I don't know why I just unloaded all of that onto you. I guess I just kind of needed a catharsis, you know? I haven't really gotten a chance to vent about this whole situation to anybody."

"I understand," Blaine stated with his gaze still glued to the ground.

Kurt smirked. "Hey, look at me," he said to the shorter boy in a much milder tone than before.

Blaine willed his hazel eyes to meet Kurt's blue ones, and his knees trembled under the intensity of the look Kurt was giving him. He let out an audible gasp when Kurt took a step toward him. Kurt froze immediately.

"It's okay, I'm not gonna do anything," he reassured Blaine before he reached out and placed a hand on the shorter boy's shoulder. "I just want to let you know that I'm genuinely interested in being your friend. But in order for that to happen, you've got to cut me some slack, forget what you think you know about me, and just _relax_." A smile pulled at the prince's lips with the last statement.

Blaine couldn't help but return the kind smile. Kurt's calm, conversational tone was a vast improvement over his angry ranting. He really did feel like he could relax now that Kurt was being so reassuring. It was already getting easier to trust his new master.

"Okay, Kurt. I'll try." Blaine reveled in the feeling that using Kurt's name left on his tongue.

"Good. I really do want you to be comfortable here," Kurt replied before removing his soft hand from Blaine's bare shoulder. "Speaking of which, I assume you want to change out of that outfit. Maybe wash off that ridiculous glitter?"

Blaine blushed lightly at the reminder of the revealing ensemble he was still wearing. "That would be amazing."

"I thought as much. That's why I told Santana to come by this morning," he said as he moved back over toward his closet. "I really have to get to my fencing lesson, so she's gonna show you the ropes of what your responsibilities are supposed to be."

Blaine's eyebrows furled in confusion. Responsibilities? Didn't Kurt just say he wanted him to be comfortable?

"Don't freak out," Kurt said when he saw Blaine's expression. "It's nothing too daunting, just housekeeping stuff, like how to use the bathtub. It's pretty cool once you get used to it."

"Um, alright?" Blaine said, still confused. _How is a bathtub cool?_

Kurt shook his head as he reemerged from his closet, stopping to support himself on the doorway while he slipped his fencing shoes on. "I am really really late. Just listen to Santana. She'll explain everything. I won't be back until later this evening. Make yourself at home. Nothing's off limits but the closet." Kurt walked toward the door as he spoke.

Once he had reached the door, he stopped with his hand poised to open it. "Listen to Santana, she's scary but she tells it like it is."

"You're damn straight I do!" a loud female sounded from outside the door.

"Speak of the devil," Kurt murmured before he pulled the door open. "Why, hello, Satan."

A tanned, slinky looking girl with her black hair tied back in a tight ponytail stood with a smirk in the doorway. "Hey Ladyface," she said to Kurt. "You two done fucking yet?"

Blaine's mouth dropped open at her audacity. Calling the crowned prince a name to his face _and_ making sexual inferences in one greeting? Sure, Blaine was nowhere near thrilled with his situation, but he would have never addressed a member of the royal family like that unless he had a death wish.

The bold brunette's brown eyes glanced down to Kurt's fencing ensemble. "Oh, getting kinky I see. Well, don't mind me. I'll just come back later when you've finished _impaling_ him."

Blaine felt his eyes bug out so far he thought he might have caused permanent damage to them. He quickly buried his burning red face in his hand, not wanting to witness the backlash that comment was sure to illicit form Kurt.

Blaine was shocked when the next sound he heard wasn't the ripping of carnage, but rather it was Kurt's calm voice, dripping with sarcasm. "Oh, Santana. You're just as charming as ever, I see. Brittany is such a lucky girl to have you."

"You know that's right," she said, pushing past Kurt into the room. Her eyes immediately landed on the nervous boy with his face in his hand. "You Blaine?"

Blaine's head snapped up and he opened his mouth to answer, but he was cut off by Kurt's quick response.

"No, that's _clearly_ Paco, the fifty-year-old milk man with alopecia. I invited him up here for a little tête à tête," he said, rolling his eyes and letting out an annoyed scoff.

Santana looked back at Kurt. "You say that like it's never happened before..." she replied in mock confusion.

Kurt simply shot her a sardonic smile and forced out a fake chuckle. "Oh, Santana, your wit astounds me," he said, glaring at the girl. Then he shifted his focus back to Blaine, who had remained in astounded silence throughout their scathing interaction. "I'll see you later, Blaine. Try not to let her eat you. I'd like to at least have a chance to get to know the guy sleeping on my floor."

And with that, he exited the bedchamber and shut the door behind him.

Blaine stared at the door for a moment after Kurt had left, still in awe over how different the prince had turned out to be - how concerned and sincere and _real_ he'd been.

When he turned to Santana, he found the girl looking at him with a knowing smirk.

"What?" he asked nervously.

"Oh honey," she replied, "he's already gotten to you. You're falling for him."


	7. Ch 7: To Put Your Mind at Ease

**Chapter 7**

**To Put Your Mind at Ease**

"What!" Blaine exclaimed at the smug looking girl. "No I'm not. You're crazy."

Santana simply shook her head with her smirk firmly in place.

Blaine let out an exasperated scoff and crossed his arms over his chest. What she was proposing was absolutely preposterous in his mind. Sure, Kurt had surprised him. He'd been sincere, even kind, but Blaine was certainly not _falling_ for him. He still knew virtually nothing about the prince other than that apparently he fenced and owned a lot of facial products. It was also clear that the young prince was harboring some major emotional and self-esteem issues that seemed like they could get awfully messy in a hurry. And it wasn't like he was _that_ considerate. He still left Blaine in his room to sit and rot in boredom all day while he went off and led his real life, thinking he'd just come back to play with his new toy later. As far as Blaine was concerned, Kurt was still nothing more than his captor keeping him there in the palace – miles away from his home and everything he knew – and that was a dynamic that could not be overlooked.

"No way. You're wrong."

Santana took a step toward the slave, also crossing her arms with fierce indignation. "No I'm not. It's understandable that you don't see it yet, but you will. He's working his way right under your skin."

"Oh yeah?" Blaine replied, raising a disbelieving eyebrow. "How exactly is he doing that?"

"My guess is that he's impressed you. I bet he got you to let your guard down a little – maybe even to start to feel a bit more comfortable?"

Blaine remained silent and Santana continued.

"Kurt's quite the charmer. He's charming his way right into you. Figuratively and literally," she paused to let out a small chuckle at her own innuendo.

Blaine rolled his eyes before she continued.

"You think I'm crazy right now, but trust me. I am never wrong when it comes to attraction. Ask anybody. I can smell it form miles away and boy, you reek of it."

Blaine scoffed again at her words. He was starting to become genuinely annoyed at Santana's insistence. She was wrong – completely wrong. He didn't have feelings for Kurt. He thought he was attractive, yes, but he would certainly not put it at the level of attraction that Santana was insinuating. A surge of irritation came over him. He didn't want to be charmed, impressed, or romanced in the least by the prince, and he was trying his absolute hardest not to be. If this interaction with Santana taught him anything, it was that he couldn't let his guard down again. He wouldn't be charmed by Kurt; he couldn't be.

"Whatever," he began, hiding his aggravation under a bored-sounding tone, "You can think what you want, but I know that I am not going to fall for Kurt. That's ridiculous."

Santana threw up her hands in mock surrender. "Fine," she said. "Believe whatever you need to to get through the day. God knows you're gonna need to find something to get you through." And with that, she turned away from Blaine and headed toward the bathroom.

Blaine stared after her. "What is that supposed to mean?"

The slinky girl halted and spun back around. "I just know you've got some rough times headed your way. Apart from your budding attraction to everyone's favorite royal floozy, you're gonna start having to deal with a lot of crap."

"Like?"

"Like the fact that Kurt gets to make all of your decisions for you, no one in this palace is going to view you with an ounce of respect, and you're going to go half insane with boredom while you sit in this room alone every day waiting for, no, _pleading_ for some kind of stimulation."

_Wow_, Blaine thought, _who brought the good news bear?_ Just when he was finally starting to see a glimmer of hope that his situation would not being completely horrible, this total stranger came waltzing in and was trying to tear him right back down. Blaine hated negativity and he usually tried to avoid it at all costs, so he really wished Santana would stop dragging him down this downward spiral toward cynicism.

"Okay, never mind. I'm sorry I asked," Blaine said, trying to withhold his annoyance from his tone. "Can we talk about something else now? Weren't you supposed to show me what my responsibilities are around here?"

"Hey, I'm _trying _to help you here. You can't just glaze over the hard stuff because you don't want to talk about it. You're going to be experiencing a lot of things that you need to be able to face. You're not going to know how to feel…"

"How in the hell would _you_ know what I'm going to be feeling?" Blaine practically yelled, finally unable to contain his anger. "You know absolutely nothing about me or what I am going through right now, so will you _please_ stop acting like you do?" The angry words poured from his mouth like fists on a punching bag; fast and hard and cathartic. Blaine found himself slightly out of breath once he'd gotten them all out.

Santana's expression was stuck somewhere between offended and surprised. She waited a moment before she replied, as if waiting for Blaine to catch his breath. "Feel better?" she asked.

"Yeah, actually," Blaine admitted. "I haven't let myself get angry in a while."

"Well, I do tend to bring that out in people." She smiled lightly. "It's a good thing to yell sometimes. That's something I know well." She took a few steps toward Blaine. "I also know a few other things that you'll find helpful. You're right that I don't know much about you personally, but you're wrong to think I can't relate to what you're going through."

Blaine raised a quizzical eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I've been where you are, Blaine. Two years ago, I was brought to the palace to be Prince's Finn's personal servant."

He was speechless. Santana was a personal servant? Blaine was finding it almost impossible to imagine Santana as being subordinate to anyone. How could this outspoken, proud girl with fire in her eyes that stood before him have ever been as powerless as he felt in this situation?

"Y-you?," he asked, astonished. "You were Prince Finn's servant?"

Santana nodded. "For about a year and a half – up until he married Princess Rachel."

Blaine suddenly saw Santana in whole different light. Here in front of him was this fountain of knowledge about all of the things he feared.

So many questions flooded to Blaine's mind all at once that he couldn't figure out which one he should ask her first. "I… you…" he babbled, unable to organize his jumbled thoughts. "How was it?" he suddenly blurted before he realized how dumb that question sounded.

Santana actually let out a short laugh, taking Blaine by surprise again. "Well, um, overall? It pretty much sucked," she stated bluntly.

Blaine's expression fell. He didn't know why he'd thought Santana would be capable of saying something that would make him feel better.

"It was the worst at the beginning. It was like I said. I couldn't get any respect from anybody, I couldn't make any of my own decisions, and I was bored to tears every day. Not to mention I had to have sex with Finn." She visibly shuddered. "But as time went on, it did get better."

Blaine's head snapped back up. _What's this? A glimpse of optimism? Shocking_.

"Finn started letting me leave the room without him during the days. I think it was mostly just because I intimidated him into it, but still, the freedom was nice."

Blaine wanted to let out a chuckle at the visual of little, sticklike Santana scaring towering, robust Prince Finn into submission.

"I started wondering the palace grounds and getting human interaction with more than just Finn. That's when I met Britt. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me, so really when I look back, I can't regret being brought here. It brought me to her."

"Britt? As in Brittany? Mercedes's assistant?" Blaine couldn't help but smile as he remembered the dopey blonde girl who had helped clean him up the day before.

"Yep. That's my girl. She used to be a maid before Kurt noticed how much of a trendsetter she was. Everyone was always copying her outfits and asking her for style tips, including Kurt. He decided to introduce her to Mercedes and the rest is history."

Blaine was really beginning to see what Mercedes was talking about when she said that Kurt was friends with a lot of the servants. Based on his friendship with Mercedes, the way he'd let Santana tease him, the obvious favor he did for Brittany, and how honest he'd been with Blaine, it was clear that he really didn't seem to think of himself as better than any of them. It seemed like he genuinely cared… Blaine shook that train of thought, remembering his resolution not to let his guard down in regards to the prince again.

Instead, he blurted the next observable thing he thought of. "So…so you're gay." Santana gave him an incredulous look, clearly questioning his mental capabilities. "Yes, Mr. Observant, that's what it means when a girl has a girlfriend."

"But, you were Finn's servant…"

"Yes. Turns out they didn't care to ask me my sexual preference when they volunteered me for the position."

Blaine's heart sank for Santana. He'd thought his situation was bad, but he couldn't imagine how he'd feel if he was being forced into intercourse with a woman. _Gross…_

"Thank your lucky stars that at least they shacked you up with someone who has the right parts."

Blaine blushed, never more thankful for being gay in his life.

"And someone who's experienced!" she added. "Finn was a virgin on the night of his birthday, so it was the first time for both of us." A look of disgust came over her face at the recollection.

Blaine blushed deeper, not sure he wanted know that much information.

"It was like being smothered by a sweaty sack of potatoes. God, after that experience, I thought all sex was going to be terrible forever."

At this point, Blaine was wearing a pained expression, clearly uncomfortable with the details.

Noticing this, Santana continued. "I'm sure it won't be like that for you, though," she said in a hurry, trying to backtrack out of the fear she's obviously inspired in the boy. "Because you actually like guys and Kurt is… knowledgeable."

Blaine bit his lip and looked everywhere around the room except at Santana. "Oh yeah. Thank God for that," he said sarcastically. He had never felt so awkward in his entire life except for the time Joel, a straight man, tried to give him the homosexual sex talk.

There was tense silence for a moment.

"…I'm hurting more than I'm helping at this point aren't I?" Santana concluded.

"Maybe a little."

She nodded. "Sorry. I'm really bad at comforting people. I'm really good at reading them, but not at the whole, you know, being subtle thing."

"'sokay."

More silence.

"How about we get to those responsibilities I was supposed to show you?"

Blaine let out a huge sigh of relief at the subject change. "Sounds great."

The pair headed into the marble bathroom.

Once inside the white room, Santana went into instruction mode. "As the prince's personal servant, you're expected to carry out several duties besides the sex."

Blaine resisted his urge to wince.

"The first one is to draw his bath and then make sure he gets up on time every morning. I can personally say I'm glad you're here to take over this duty because I've been the one who's had to do this for Kurt ever since I was released from Finn, and before that I obviously had to do it for Finn, so I'm a little sick of it by this point. Also, Kurt has a tendency to throw things at people who try to wake him up, so try to keep throwable items out of an arm's reach from the bed."

Blaine stared wide-eyed for a moment, but then slowly nodded his understanding.

Santana then moved over to the enormous marble tub. "Then you come in here and turn on the water in the tub."

Blaine cocked his head in confusion. "Turn on the water? How can a person _turn on_ wa…"

Blaine was cut short when Santana turned a small knob on the side of the tub and water began to spring forth from a metal fixture in the wall. He gaped open mouthed as the clear water started to fill the bottom of the tub, completely perplexed as to where it was coming from.

"It's called 'running water.' The water travels through pipes in the walls called plumbing, and when you turn the knobs, it comes out of the faucet," she explained, gesturing to the metal spout on the wall. "It's brand new technology and, as of yet, only the palace and a few governmental buildings have it. And so far, the palace only has it in the royals' bedrooms and the kitchen."

"It's amazing," Blaine commented, still in awe at the miraculous invention. It was a relief to know he wouldn't need to haul water in from anywhere in order to draw a bath.

Santana smirked and turned the knob the other way, slowing the flow to a stop. "You can take a bath when we're done here. Wait until you see the toilet!"

"The what?"

"Oh man, come on, you have to see this thing." She grabbed his wrist excitedly and pulled him toward an odd looking bowl on a pedestal on the other side of the room. "Nothing ever made life easier, I swear."

About half an hour later, Santana had shown him everything he would be responsible for on a daily basis. She demonstrated the proper way to make the bed, how to clean the windows without streaking, how Kurt liked his evening tea prepared (the elaborate bathroom was also equipped with its own tea station), and how he liked his things arranged, even though he apparently managed to always move everything from its assigned place anyway.

"And right here is the servant bell." She guided him over to a long cord hanging from the ceiling near the door. "You just pull this string if you need anything and a bell goes off in the kitchen. Then an attendant will come and help you."

Blaine nodded, adding the cord to his mental checklist.

"And that about covers it… Oh yeah, you _would_ be responsible for collecting and washing his laundry too, but Kurt insists on doing it himself. He thinks no one else can handle his clothes properly. Consider yourself lucky. Laundry is definitely the hardest chore for a personal servant, and you'll be getting off scot-free. Hell, knowing Kurt, there's a good chance he'll even insist on doing yours too."

Blaine couldn't help the small smile that came over his lips. He could totally see Kurt being so neurotic about the precious collection in his forbidden closet.

"I have to get going. I have a million other things to take care of today. Someone'll be by to drop off your meals for you," Santana said, placing a hand on the doorknob. Then she shot Blaine a surprisingly empathetic look. "You're gonna be okay, short stuff."

"I'm not that short."

Santana rolled her eyes. "I'm trying to be nice here, alright? Humor me."

Blaine smiled, glad to see this side of Santana come out.

"I just want you to know that it will be hard, but it does get better. And…" she paused and let out a reluctant sigh. "If you ever want to… you know, talk or whatever… I'll be around."

"Wow. That's really descent of you, Santana."

"Yeah, well Kurt told me to come by and put your mind at ease, and I feel like all I really did was terrify you more… so maybe we should try again later when you have a more concrete idea of what this is going to be like for you."

It then dawned on him that Kurt had said he'd asked Santana to come by this morning, and now his sneaking suspicion that he was supposed to learn more from her than just how to work the bathtub was confirmed. For a moment, he didn't know if he should be offended that Kurt thought he needed advice, but he found himself immeasurably grateful that he had thought of a way to make him feel more at ease. Knowing that he had someone who had been through what he was experiencing as a resource really was comforting, even though she was completely inappropriate and scary.

"I'd like that."

"And after you've realized your feelings for Kurt," she added with a wink.

"Santana…"

"Alright, alright," she conceded. "I guess time will tell. Until then, I guess my advice would be just to try and enjoy Kurt. Sure, he's an opinionated, stubborn lady boy and a bit of a loose cannon when it comes to affection, but he's a good guy. He's not the worst guy you could fall for."

Blaine let out a sigh. He still really wished Santana would drop this subject. Her constantly going on about it was only serving to strengthen his determination not to let his guard down around the prince, no matter how much of a jerk he was turning out _not_ to be.

"Bye, Santana. Thanks for the advice," he said.

She looked at him for a moment longer, right into his eyes like she was searching for something. Then that characteristic smirk graced her face once more and she looked like she knew something Blaine did not. She let out a devilish, enigmatic chuckle as she opened the door to leave. "I'll be seeing you, Blaine." And she was gone.

A shudder that he'd been suppressing since she entered the room rolled down Blaine's shoulders. As he turned toward the bathroom to finally wash himself of all the powder, perfume, and glitter from the night before, he realized how overwhelmed he was feeling already, and it was only the morning of his first full day in his new position. He glanced around at his surroundings and all of the feelings that Santana had warned about suddenly crashed down on him full force. He already felt trapped within the walls of the bedchamber. He hated that he didn't have the option to leave, even just to take a walk and clear his head. And it was killing him that he had literally nothing else to do other than just sit in there and wait for Kurt to come back. On top of that, there was the fact that people kept telling how much of a good guy Kurt was while all Blaine could think of was how they were talking about the same guy that was supposed to take advantage of him. And then there was the equally distressing fact that Blaine was expected to be the one to finally be able to calm the prince down and keep him occupied when really, all Blaine wanted to do was keep a good five feet between the two of them at all times.

When the tub was full, Blaine pulled off the shimmery toga and took a deep breath. He lowered himself into the marble bathtub and exhaled slowly. "_It gets better. It gets better_, he chanted to himself, hoping he could keep his sanity long enough to get to that point.


	8. Ch 8: It Gets Better

**Chapter 8**

**It Gets Better**

Blaine did not get out of the warm bath water until the skin on his fingers and toes had become wrinkly. It's not like he had any reason to rush. He dried off and began to tie the towel around his waist, but then remembered he had the whole suite to himself for the rest of the day and decided not to bother. He walked naked back out into the bedroom and hesitantly opened the top drawer of his new dresser, afraid of what he might find inside. Blaine blushed as he sifted through the multitude of lacey and leather garments in search of something reasonable.

"Oh, for the love of God!" he said aloud when he came across a particularly lewd little number that involved feathers. "Mercedes, what was going through your mind?" he muttered, dropping the underwear back into the drawer like it had burned him.

Finally he found a small collection of normal cotton briefs shoved way to the back and he gratefully dug out a pair and pulled them on. When he opened the next drawer down, he found a wide assortment of shirts which ranged from formal dress shirts to regular cotton tank tops. He went with a simple pullover that was a handsome shade of green. He then went on to the next drawer to find a pair of gray slacks that turned out to be way too long but fit otherwise, so he cuffed them up around his ankles.

The last drawer was a veritable treasure trove of socks and accessories. Blaine pulled out a thin strip of fabric that he recognized as a bowtie. His father had owned a bowtie at some point, but he'd never gotten around to teaching Blaine how to tie it. Blaine set the tie down on the top of the dresser, making a mental note to try to figure it out later.

Just as he finished pulling on a pair of red socks – Blaine had never seen colored _socks_ before and was therefore captivated by them – he heard a quick knock at the door to the suite and the sound of it being pushed open behind him.

A smiley girl with high cheekbones and long black hair entered pushing a cart with a large covered tray. "Hi there," she said brightly. "I'm Tina. I brought your breakfast."

It wasn't until Blaine smelled the alluring scent of bacon, eggs, and fresh coffee that he realized how incredibly hungry he was. His stomach immediately lurched into action, making a roaring sound that was loud enough to make Tina giggle.

"I see I'm right in time," she commented.

Blaine smiled. "Yeah, I haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon," he said as he approached the girl and the cart. "I'm Blaine, by the way." He stuck out his hand to the girl.

"Oh, what a gentleman," she replied, accepting his handshake. "Well, we didn't know what you eat so the cooks just sent me up here with a bit of everything." She then pulled the metal cover off of the metal try to reveal a huge spread of breakfast foods. There was the eggs, bacon, and coffee that he had smelled, plus an assortment of muffins, a bowl of yogurt with fresh strawberries, and even a steaming bowl of oatmeal.

Blaine's mouth fell open and immediately started watering at the sight. This was the most food that he'd ever been offered in a single sitting, and it all looked absolutely amazing. He made himself shut his mouth before he started drooling all over it.

"Wow. Well, if the bathroom and the food are any indication, living at the palace is definitely turning out to have its perks," he said.

Tina's smile expanded as Blaine immediately snatched a slice of bacon and took a bite. "That's great. It's good to see you're settling in. And I'm glad you're an eater! Prince Kurt barely touches anything I bring."

Blaine grinned while he chewed. In between bites he answered. "You don't have to worry about that with me. I'm always hungry."

"Good. Well, listen, Blaine. It was great to meet you, but I can't really stay and chat. I have a lot of rounds to make. Do you have any preferences for lunch? The chef makes a mean chicken and avocado sandwich… I can bring that in a few hours."

"That sounds great," Blaine responded politely. "But you don't have to do that. I can come down and pick it up or something."

Tina's perpetual smile faltered. "Um, I… I don't think you're allowed to do that," she said shrugging, clearly uncomfortable at having to point that out.

"Oh, right," Blaine mumbled.

"It's just that we didn't get any authorization from Kurt for you to come down…"

"I know. That's okay. I just forgot for a second." Blaine faked a smile. "I guess living at the palace has its downsides too," he added weakly. And there it was, exactly like Santana had talked about: that maddening feeling of inferiority that comes with not being able to do anything without permission. It was humiliating and demeaning and Blaine hated it.

_It gets better_, he reminded himself, willing time to fast forward to whenever that would be. Apparently it wouldn't be by lunch today.

Tina left him alone with his massive breakfast. Blaine ate in silence, wondering exactly how many meals he would be eating alone from here on out.

When he had finished, Blaine stood in front of the massive windows and gazed down at the bustling city below. For a while, he found himself really enjoying the people watching, but then it just started to remind him of his isolation and how he was not free to go down there and join them. He turned away from the window and strode over to the bookcase.

For the next few hours, Blaine settled down on the cushiony loveseat and read a novel he had never heard of from Kurt's collection. Reading turned out to be a great distraction from his solitude and he lay there for an undistinguished amount of time until his eyes started to hurt from staring at the small print. He took a break when Tina brought the sandwich as promised and then quickly dove back into the story. It was just a typical one about a knight who had to travel all the way across the world and face a bunch of obstacles in order to save the princess, but it was good enough to hold his attention. The storyline vaguely reminded him of what Joel would have to face if he ever actually did try to come for him, except the knight actually had a fighting chance.

Just when the sun was starting to get low in the sky and the room started to dim, Blaine finished the novel and let out a sigh. He rubbed the heels of his hands into his sore eyes, still in a state of disbelief that all he had done for an entire day was sit in one position and read. And as much as Blaine adored reading, he couldn't help but feel like he had wasted a perfectly good day. Looking through the windows once more, Blaine noted the way the sunlight was shrinking back behind the silhouette of the city, and a sense of disappointment settled over him when he thought about how he had not been able to take in a single ray of it. He was finding it slightly ironic that just a week ago he was spending virtually all his time outdoors working and would have given anything for just a minute to himself. Now he wished that he could have something else, _anything_ else, besides the undetermined span of mind-numbing free time that was ahead of him.

"Oh my God!" a voice suddenly boomed from the doorway, starling Blaine so badly that he let out a small yelp and flinched himself off the loveseat and onto the floor. "You would not believe the day I had!" the melodious voice of Prince Kurt continued as he entered the room while trying to balance some cumbersome items in his arms. "So much to do! I just could _not_ get a moment to myself… Blaine, what are you doing on the floor again? Is this a Daltonian thing?"

"Uh, no." Blaine choked out his response, still recovering from his surprise on the fur rug beneath the loveseat. "It's just a me thing, apparently."

Kurt cocked an eyebrow playfully at the boy on his floor. "Well I can't pick you up this time. My hands are full."

Blaine immediately got to his feet and turned to look at Kurt properly. He was no longer the raw, uncensored Kurt Blaine had seen that morning. The prince was back to the stylish, polished gentleman he'd been at his birthday party, sporting a handsome, white button shirt with a well-tailored gray vest and a pair of formfitting black trousers that tucked into shiny, knee-high boots. He was carting two different bags, the larger of which he had draped over his arm and the smaller one was clutched in his hand.

"Do you need help with those?" Blaine asked, his politeness kicking in before he was even aware he'd made the offer.

"Thank you, Blaine," Kurt replied as he handed the larger item over to his servant. "My arm was starting to kill me."

Blaine let out an audible grunt as he heaved the large canvas bag over his shoulder. It was a familiar motion for him, having done it countless times with bags of animal feed, flour, or wheat.

"That's my laundry," Kurt felt it necessary to explain. "I finished it up in between meetings today. I do my own laundry because…"

"I know," Blaine interjected, turning to carry the heavy bag to the closet. "Santana told me." He was surprised at the weight of the laundry bag as he hauled it across the room, and he hated to admit that he was very impressed that Kurt had apparently carried it in one arm all the way through the palace.

"Oh, right," Kurt said, placing the smaller bag on his writing desk. "How did things go with Santana?"

Blaine lobbed the laundry to the floor with a thud right outside the closet. "Fine," he answered plainly, not really wanting to give Kurt the satisfaction of knowing that he appreciated the meeting – terrifying parts and all.

Kurt was silent for a moment, expecting Blaine to say more. When it was clear that that was all he was getting out of him, a slightly put-out Kurt replied, "Well, that's good."

A long silence ensued in which Blaine merely stared at Kurt as if waiting for further direction and Kurt looked back at Blaine as if waiting for him to suddenly break into a chatty mood.

When neither party took the other's bait, Kurt finally surrendered and spoke first. "I, uh, had to have dinner with my father and some regional dignitaries. The conversation was incredibly dull but the food was pretty descent. I went to the kitchen and packed some of it up for you." He motioned to the smaller bag on the desk.

Blaine realized that it was probably time for dinner, but he did not feel hungry in the least. This was unusual for Blaine who, earlier that same day, had proclaimed himself to be 'always hungry.' Then it dawned on him that he hadn't _done_ anything that day. He hadn't exerted himself nearly enough to have worked up an appetite like he was always sure to do on the farm or the vineyard.

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry," he said to Kurt in a much more bitter sounding tone than he'd meant. He'd meant the rejection to sound more like _thank you for being considerate enough to think of me and going through the trouble of saving me some food_; but it came off more like _how dare you bring me food? I would never touch anything you brought me, you bastard._

Kurt's hopeful expression immediately melted. "Oh, that's okay. I just figured I'd grab it in case."

Kurt looked so dejected that Blaine's gentlemanly instincts were screaming at him to apologize for coming off so harshly, but another voice in his head was also screaming at him not to let the seemingly thoughtful prince get under his skin.

_Kurt's a charmer_, Santana's voice replayed in his mind. _He's charming his way right into you…_ Blaine shuddered at the implication. He couldn't let it happen.

"Well, I'll just put it over here if you decide you want it," Kurt continued, placing the bag on the end table beside the couch he'd been lying on all day. "I have to get started on the rest of my homework. I need to finish it before my tutor comes tomorrow." The prince moved back to his desk and sat down.

Kurt still wore his crestfallen expression as he tucked a pencil behind his ear and opened up a thick book. He was just as sorry and innocent looking as he'd been that morning. Blaine stood awkwardly where he was, not knowing what to do. He knew he should probably be thrilled that Kurt didn't seem particularly fond of him in that moment, but the prince's expression, no, his entire demeanor was just so tragically endearing that Blaine couldn't help that unwelcome twinge of guilt growing in his gut.

Blaine let out an almost imperceptible sigh before he decided to try and make amends. "Um, I might eat it later," he said, trying to sound upbeat. "It was nice of you to think of me."

The prince looked up from his book at his slave, and the relief was evident in his blue eyes. A small grin pulled at his lips. "It's no problem," he said, smile growing.

Blaine felt his face flush under Kurt's gaze, but he managed to respond with a quick nervous smile of his own before letting his eyes retreat to focusing on the floor.

Blaine knew he needed to think of something else to say if he didn't want the awkwardness to return. Then he suddenly remembered that he was supposed to have gotten Kurt's evening tea ready for him right when he got back to the room. Blaine mentally smacked himself in the face. That was the one thing he actually had to do and he'd forgotten it.

"Your tea!"

Kurt's eyes widened with surprise at the sudden declaration.

"Do you want me to get you your tea? Santana showed me how you like it."

Kurt merely continued to smile and look at Blaine for a moment, causing the latter to begin to feel a bit self conscious. Blaine folded his arms across his front.

"That would be lovely, Blaine. Thank you."

Blaine nodded before he headed over to the tea station and got started. It took him a while to get it the way Santana had showed him. The sugar bowl slipped in his hands and he ended pouring almost its entire contents into the cup, so he had to start over. This was much more delicate work than he was used to. As he worked on perfecting the tea, a task he figured he would get the hang of soon enough, Blaine could hear Kurt's repeated grunting, sighing, and muttering from his desk.

When he finally approached him with the scalding hot cup of liquid, Blaine saw that there were now several crumpled sheets of paper littering the floor around the prince's feet. Kurt was sitting with his forehead down on his desk, breathing deeply.

Blaine paused next to him. "Um, Kurt?" he said gently, not wanting to startle him and end up covered in the boiling hot beverage he was holding.

Kurt responded by groaning into his textbook.

"I've got your tea here."

"Thanks," he said, slowly pulling his head up. "Just put it right here." He shoved some papers out of the way in order to clear a spot on the desk.

Blaine set the tea down as ordered. As he did, he snuck a glance at Kurt's open textbook. The pages were covered with equations and graphs, and the sheet of paper Kurt had laid out in front of him contained a few lines of numbers scrawled out with scratch-work in the margins. Blaine had never been particularly fond of math, but he didn't hate it either. He had actually been pretty good at it when he still went to school. Blaine felt a painful pang at the recollection of school. He had loved school. He loved to learn and he had never taken his education for granted. Knowing his father had worked himself to the bone in order to be able to pay for extra labor on the farm so Blaine could go to school instead of work had made him appreciate the opportunity to learn all the more. A tingle of jealousy stared to brew in Blaine when he looked at all the work sprawled out on Kurt's desk. Even though Kurt was clearly aggravated with his homework, Blaine would have given anything to be able to learn what he was learning.

"What are you working on?" he asked before he could stop himself.

Kurt let out a dramatic sigh. "Trigonometry," he said, "and I don't understand it _at all_."

Blaine felt an odd sort of excitement come over him. He knew trigonometry. It was the last math class he'd finished before he left school, and he'd been good at it. Very good.

"Mr. Shuester is going to kill me when he gets here. We've been stuck on this forever and I just can't get it!" Kurt suddenly threw his pencil at the textbook and let out an angry sounding huff. "I hate math! I give up."

"Calm down," Blaine remarked. He found himself fighting a smile at Kurt's overly dramatic outburst. "Let me take a look at it. I used to be pretty good at trig." Blaine pulled a chair up to the desk next to Kurt and then reached over and grabbed the textbook.

"You know trigonometry?" Kurt asked, not even trying to conceal his surprise.

"They do have schools in Daltonia," Blaine replied coolly without looking up from the book.

"Yeah, but usually not for…" Kurt trailed off.

Blaine raised his head at that. "Not for slaves?" he asked, meeting Kurt's gaze.

The prince blushed deeply. His blue eyes glistened with obvious guilt. "…yeah… I'm sorry. I just thought – "

"It's okay," Blaine said, cutting off his apologetic babble. "You're right. School's not usually for slaves, but I wasn't always a slave. I've actually only been one for about two and a half months."

Kurt's eyes grew wider than Blaine had ever seen them before. "Really?" he breathed. The prince stared at Blaine openmouthed.

"Really," Blaine replied, focusing back on the book. "I went to school up until about six months ago. Then my dad needed me on our farm so I had to drop out."

"Oh, I… I had no idea…"

Blaine shrugged. "It's okay. How could you have known that?" His eyes traced over Kurt's swirly writing on his work. "You're forgetting to take the square root before you divide all of these," he concluded.

Kurt scrunched his eyebrows in clear confusion. "What?"

"Your homework," Blaine clarified. "You need to take the square roots _before_ you divide by the length of the adjacent."

Kurt continued to stare at Blaine like he had been all night, but now it was a stare of utter disbelief. "You figured that out that quickly?"

"Yeah," Blaine said, suddenly feeling self-conscious. "I used to make the same mistake all the time," he added in explanation.

Kurt kept his eyes on Blaine and he opened and closed his mouth several times, clearly wanting to speak but not able to find the words.

"What is it?" Blaine asked nervously. He hoped the prince wasn't angry at him for correcting him. He highly doubted a royal would like to be shown up by a slave like that.

"Nothing, it's just," Kurt began, "you are absolutely nothing like I thought you'd be."

"Oh," Blaine said, thinking he'd let the prince down.

"No!" Kurt quickly corrected. "It's a good thing. I mean, I knew that if I got a servant at all he'd be Daltonian and therefore probably _gorgeous_ like you are."

Blaine's breath hitched at the comment and his face immediately reddened.

"But you're a freaking genius too? I did _not_ see that one coming."

"I am _not_ a genius," Blaine insisted, slightly nervous with how thrilled Kurt was getting with him. "I just really like learning."

Kurt threw him a playful smirk. "Okay, Mr. Square-root-before-you-divide-the-adjacent. Give me my book back."

Blaine walked Kurt through the next couple of problems, making sure he paid attention and did all the steps correctly. He quickly realized that Kurt actually seemed to be very intelligent when he put his mind to it, but he just needed a guiding hand to keep him focused.

At some point, Kurt reached over and grabbed his tea. He took a big sip, immediately grimaced, and set the cup back down.

Blaine saw the action and bit his lip, knowing the tea was probably gross. "Sorry if it's not very good. I've never really made it before. I'll get better at it…"

"No, Blaine, don't worry about it," Kurt replied. "I don't drink that stuff because it tastes good, trust me. It just does wonders for the skin and hair. Plus," he scooted closer to Blaine, "I'd rather have your homework help than your tea any day."

Blaine just barely resisted the urge to jump out of his chair when he felt the prince's hand ghost over his knee. He froze in state of mild panic. Kurt didn't squeeze or move his hand any higher, but the innocent contact still sent a sensation like a lightning bolt through Blaine. Then, just as soon as it had come, the hand was gone and Kurt was looking at him like nothing had happened.

"Blaine?" he asked gently, as if trying to coax him out of a hiding place, "who's Joel?"

Blaine's mouth dropped open. The question had come out of nowhere. He could never have prepared himself for that name to ever leave Kurt's lips, and yet, there it was. His brother's name hung in the air for a moment, saturating Blaine's mind and filling his head with images of Joel.

"Wh-where did you hear that name?" Blaine could feel that tears were beginning to fill his eyes.

Kurt bit his lip like Blaine was learning he tended to do when he was nervous. "You kept saying it in your sleep last night. You sounded so sad, desperate even – like you were trying to get to him and you couldn't."

Blaine remembered his dream from the previous night and how the blue stars had taken him away from his brother. He started to take deeper breaths in order to calm himself down. He really didn't want to cry in front of Kurt.

"Joel is my brother," he choked out, throat suddenly dry. "He's my brother and my best friend, and he's been through everything in my life with me up until this point." Blaine took a deep breath, trying to ward off the impending sobs. "He was there when my mother died, he was there when my father lost the farm, and he was sold into slavery right next to me. Needless to say, I'm feeling a little lost without him now."

Kurt stayed quiet for a long time. He simply stared at the floor to Blaine's left, clearly lost in thought. His expression remained stone and unreadable the way it had been at his birthday party, but Blaine could see in his eyes that he was battling with himself internally. After what was probably two solid minutes of silence, Blaine was surprised to see a tear roll down the prince's cheek.

"I'm sorry," he stated plainly, meeting Blaine's eyes once more.

"What for?" he asked, lost in the sincerity of Kurt's eyes.

"You know what for."

A shiver ran down Blaine's back at the pure intensity of the statement.

"No one deserves to go through any of that. I lost my mom, but I can't imagine what would have happened to me if I'd lost everything else along with her. And then if I was thrown into _your_ situation… I'm just so _sorry_, Blaine."

"It's not your fault."

"I'm still sorry."

The two young men were quiet for a long time again. Both just stared at the floor thinking for a while. Eventually, Kurt stood up and paced over to his bookcase. Blaine watched as he removed a thick book protruding from the bottom shelf and then reached into the large gap it left. Blaine was shocked to see him withdraw his hand with an unopened bottle of red wine.

"Been saving this for a special occasion," he explained as he placed the bottle on another shelf and stuck his arm back into the gap. This time he drew forth two wine glasses and a corkscrew. "Dad doesn't like me to have alcohol in my room. But what he doesn't know won't hurt, right?"

Kurt uncorked the bottle and poured the two glasses. He brought them back over to the desk and handed one to a stunned Blaine.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Blaine responded, looking back and forth between Kurt and glass in his hand. "You're just full of surprises, aren't you?"

Kurt shrugged. "I guess it's a two way street, huh?"

Blaine grinned. "What are we drinking to?"

Kurt pursed his lips in mock contemplation. "Hmm, how about… to being sorry?"

Blaine's grin widened.

The two clinked their glasses together and started laughing – a mutual agreement to move forward from all the emotional baggage that had just been unloaded.

They worked on Kurt's homework the rest of the evening, finishing math first and then moving to history. Kurt didn't need a lot of help with history. Being royal, most of it had to do with his distant relatives, so that subject seemed to hold his interest a lot more.

Kurt sipped from his tea occasionally in between sips of wine and then finally admitted to Blaine that it was really terrible.

"Yeah, I think I can cross tea-maker off my list of possible jobs," Blaine said with a smile.

"Yeah, that might be for the best," Kurt agreed jokingly. Then, with a thoughtful glint in his eye, he asked "Hey, Blaine?"

"Yeah?"

"If you could pick any job, what would it be?"

"In the palace? I don't know…"

"No, not in the palace. I'm saying what if you could leave the palace? What would you be if could be anything in the world?"

Blaine had to think for a moment. He hadn't really considered a future with the freedom of choice ever since he'd become a slave. It was kind of a useless exercise, he thought, when he knew he'd be in the palace the rest of his life. He decided to humor Kurt, though, who seemed genuinely interested in his answer.

"Something that involves a lot of trigonometry?" Kurt joked as Blaine thought.

Blaine smiled. "No, probably not. Although I guess I wouldn't mind being an architect. That would be a lot of math, but architects can create such beautiful things. Really I think I would just want to do that… make beauty. Art, music, writing, whatever. Whatever I did, I'd hope I'd leave the world a little bit happier and a little bit more beautiful."

"That's incredible, Blaine," Kurt said, head balanced on the arm he had propped on his desk. "That's such an awesome way to see the world!" he added a bit over-enthusiastically. The alcohol seemed to be taking effect.

"Thanks, Kurt," Blaine said laughing. He was beginning to feel the wine buzz as well. "What about you? If you didn't have to be the king, what would you be?"

Kurt immediately blushed. "Well, I've never told anybody this except Mercedes, but I've kind of always wanted to be a singer."

"Really? You sing?" After he'd asked the question, Blaine realized that of course Kurt must sing. His voice had that enchanting musical quality to it that he was sure translated perfectly to singing.

"I like to think so," Kurt replied, still blushing.

Blaine's smile widened. "More surprises by the minute. I'll have to hear you sing sometime."

"Ha! We'll see about that," Kurt said. He raised his glass to his lips and finished off its contents. "How about you? Do you sing? You mentioned music in your little 'beauty' speech."

"I used to," he stated. "I used to sing and play guitar with my brother and my dad. We played a lot for my mom when she was sick."

A small smile twisted onto Kurt's lips. "I always sang to my mom when she was sick too." Kurt paused, scooting closer to Blaine once again. "We have a lot more in common than I ever thought we would," he admitted.

"Yeah, I feel the same way," Blaine said.

Then Kurt reached up and tentatively brushed a rogue curl off of Blaine's forehead. "You have really nice hair," he commented, his knuckles brushing down the side of his face. Kurt's hand came to a rest under Blaine's jaw, and he stroked the skin there with his thumb. Blaine's heart leapt into his throat.

He was immediately thrown back to the moment he was sitting in Mercedes's styling chair listening to her tell him how much Kurt would love him. Then he was standing in the doorway with Santana while she was telling him it was only a matter of time until Kurt got him just where he wanted him…

He broke eye contact and leaned away from the touch.

"Oh, um sorry," Kurt breathed, instantly retracting his hand. A dejected look took over his face. "I'm sorry. That was stupid of me."

Blaine's heart twisted with conflict when he saw Kurt's expression. He knew he wasn't comfortable with the way Kurt was looking at him and touching him, yet he found himself somehow feeling bad for letting him down – for not doing his job properly.

"No, Kurt, it's okay. You just took me surprise, that's all. I… I know it's part of my job. I guess you're allowed to touch my hair if you want to…"

"No, Blaine, stop. You don't have to do that."

"Do what?"

"You don't have to act like you owe me something. If anything, I owe it to you to be a gentleman. I know you didn't ask for this, or for me."

Blaine bit his lip. Obviously, he knew the moment would eventually come when Kurt would try something, but he honestly hadn't been expecting it right then and there. It was such a small thing, caressing his face like that, and yet it still terrified Blaine just as much as it would have had Kurt tried to pull him into a kiss. One thing was alarmingly clear in his mind, and that was that he was nowhere near ready to do anything physical with Kurt.

"I- I'm sorry. It just makes me a little uncomfortable," Blaine admitted as if it weren't blatantly obvious.

"And that's completely fair –"

"It's just," Blaine began, raising his eyes to Kurt once again. "I guess your expectations kind of scare me. From the time the guards picked me up in Daltonia until the time Santana left me in here this morning, everyone kept telling me how perfect I was for you and how much you were going to like me. I just, I don't want to let you down, but I don't think I can live up to all the hype. I don't know what I'm doing, I hardly know you, and I-" Blaine's paused, willing himself to just lay it all on the line for Kurt, "and I'm not ready," he breathed.

Kurt simply nodded his understanding slowly, assuming his stone expression once more. "Blaine, I won't deny that you are… the_ definition_ of attractive to me," he said, letting out a pained laugh as he spoke. "But it's not like I completely lack self control. I get that you're scared. That's perfectly natur-"

_BANG_

Both boys jumped at the noise. Kurt's history book, overflowing with notes and worksheets, had apparently shifted under its own weight during their discussion and fallen to the floor.

"Ah, shit," Kurt said, looking at the huge mess of scattered paper on his floor. He immediately got to his feet.

"I'll get it, Kurt," Blaine said, intervening before the prince had a chance to pick up a single sheet. He dropped to his knees and started to gather up the loose papers in his arms.

"No, stop. You don't have to do that," Kurt said. Then Blaine felt a soft hand on his arm gently guiding him to a standing position. Blaine met the prince's gaze when he straightened up. A wave of goosebumps flared up his back and down his arms.

Blaine licked his lips, which had suddenly become quite dry.

There was a tense pause while the prince wrinkled his brow in thought, clearly trying to pick the right thing to say.

"Blaine, I…" he finally began, "I don't need you to do anything for me, okay?"

Blaine averted his eyes to the floor once again. "But, it's my job. I'm supposed to do whatever you need…"

"Blaine," Kurt stated, cutting him off.

He shuddered at the way Kurt said his name and the way it just hung in the air for a while.

"I would never _make_ you do anything," Kurt said. "Do you understand?"

A huge weight was immediately lifted off of Blaine's chest with the words. For over a week, Blaine had been consumed by the thought that he was expected to surrender himself completely to Kurt's will. And then suddenly, there was Kurt telling him no, he didn't have to be a mindless drone. He didn't have to sit and roll over at Kurt's will, and he wouldn't be forced into anything he didn't want to do. When Blaine got his mind around the idea, it was like someone had just pulled him back from the edge of a cliff at the last second before he fell. His feet were planted firmly again and his world was still intact.

"I understand," Blaine replied barely above a whisper. "Thank you, Kurt."

A small smile pulled at Kurt's lips. "Of course. You don't deserve to be treated like you're less of a person than me. The law might say you don't have any rights, but I say you do."

"Really, Kurt, thank you," Blaine said slowly.

Kurt sighed deeply. "It's pretty ridiculous that you feel like you need to thank me for not taking advantage of you. That just goes to show how incredibly stupid this damned tradition is." He shook his head. "I know I've already said it a million times, but I'm so sorry you got caught up in this mess, Blaine."

Blaine shrugged. "It's getting better." He chanced a weak smile at the prince.

Kurt returned the small grin. The two just stood there for a while, letting the relief and the remorse and the apprehension settle in and dissipate. Then Kurt broke into a huge yawn and stretched his arms up over his head.

"It's late," he stated as he came down from his stretch. "C'mon. Let's go to bed." He strode over to his bathroom door, unbuttoning his vest, as he went. Then he un-tucked his shirt and pulled it over his head without undoing any of the buttons.

Blaine found himself frozen to the spot next to the desk as Kurt went into the bathroom and closed the door. _It'll be fine, right? _he thought. _Kurt just said he wouldn't make me do anything… We'll just go to sleep. That's all. _He took several deep, calming breaths while he managed to walk his way over to his dresser. He changed into a pair of soft linen pants to sleep in and took one final deep breath before he had finally psyched himself up enough to approach the bed.

Again he stood, looking down at the blue K stitched on the comforter. This time he willed himself to bend down and pull back the white blanket. He slid into the soft bed and replaced the comforter on top of him just as Kurt reemerged from his bathroom.

When Blaine's eyes fell on Kurt's lean body, clad in nothing but underwear again, the calmness he had achieved a moment before all but vanished. He kept his eyes glued to Kurt as he went around the room and extinguished all the lamps, plunging them into darkness. Blaine gripped the sheets with white knuckles when he felt the bed dip next to him and then felt the warmth of Kurt's body slide in next to him. Blaine immediately rolled onto his side so his back was facing Kurt. He squeezed his eyes tight as unwelcome shaking started to plague his body, just as it had the night before as he lay on the floor. Try as he might, he could not close his eyes and make himself believe he was just lying in bed next to Joel back on the vineyard. This was too different. This was too intimate. This was too far away from what he had expected his life to be.

Blaine's skin tingled in anticipation of the feeling of hands on his body and he lay with his eyes sealed shut and teeth gritted, waiting for the hands to come like they had in his dream. He had no idea if the prince would stay true to the promise he'd just made now that they were lying so close and he was so vulnerable. But within a matter of minutes, Blaine could hear Kurt's even breathing and he knew the prince was asleep.

He chanced a sideways glance at Kurt and found him lying on his side, facing Blaine. He looked so innocent he was almost angelic. For a moment, Blaine felt guilty that he had thought such a harmless looking being would have gone back on his word. He let out a sigh of relief and his shaking subsided. For the first time, he allowed himself to relax into the immaculate softness of Kurt's bed and slowly drifted off into sleep. That night he dreamt of the stars again, but this time he was not afraid. He allowed himself to be absorbed into their warm blue glow until morning.

* * *

**Hey everybody. I hope you're still enjoying. I just wanted to let you all know that this will be the last time I update for a while. I'm going to Costa Rica for a month and my internet connection there will be spotty at best, so I doubt regular updates will be possible. But rest assured that I will be continuing to work on it while I'm there and for however long it takes to finish. I have this story planned out to the end and, let me tell ya, it's going to be a long one. I haven't even really broken the skin on this story yet so I hope you'll all stay tuned!**

** Thanks again for a reading and a special thanks to all of you who reviewed! You all make my day with your positive words and I really appreciate you taking the time to give me some feedback. So thank you all and have a wonderful next month or so! Until next time.**

**Stay gold.**


	9. Ch 9: You Can't Always Get What You Want

**Hola! I have returned from Costa Rica and apart from being way better at Spanish, I have finally made some progress with this story! This chapter is pretty long and pretty emotionally charged, so it took forever to write! As this chapter moves along, it shifts its focus slightly away from Blaine and starts to get into Kurt's head a little. I hope it comes across the way I want it to! :/**

** I wanted to get it done for all of you wonderful readers though, so I told myself I wasn't allowed to shave until I finished it. Boyfriend is not a fan of the stubble, so that turned out to be good motivation ;) Well, here it is. I hope you enjoy… I'm gonna go shave. Boyfriend is rejoicing! **

**Chapter 9**

**You Can't Always Get What You Want**

After his first two weeks at the palace, Blaine had fallen into more or less of a routine with Kurt and his duties. Well, most of his duties. Kurt hadn't tried to touch Blaine again since the hair incident and while Blaine was utterly grateful, he couldn't help but wonder when Kurt's patience would run out or worse, his own resistance against Kurt's charm. For the most part, though, the sexual tension of their unconventional relationship had taken a backseat and the two were definitely becoming, for lack of a better term, friends.

Still, Blaine was surprised when Kurt asked him if he wanted to go out with him and his friends on a Friday night.

"Out? As in, into the city?"

"No, Blaine. Out, as in into the woods to sacrifice a virgin," Kurt teased. "Do you know where I can find one?" he added with a sarcastic smirk.

Blaine rolled his eyes.

Kurt let out a sigh, turning back to the bathroom mirror. "_Yes_, into the city! Come on! It'll be fun, I promise," he said as he ran his fingers through his hair some more.

"I don't know, Kurt. It's not really… my scene," Blaine replied from his position against the bathroom doorframe.

Kurt raised a quizzical eyebrow in the mirror. "Your scene? Blaine, if you don't mind me asking, what is your 'scene' exactly?"

Blaine frowned. He didn't have an answer to that question. He supposed that, honestly, he really didn't have a scene at all. He couldn't even properly remember the last time he'd done something just for the sake of fun. Lately, the idea of a night out just to blow off steam and goof around had become a foreign concept to the young slave.

"I don't know," he replied honestly, avoiding Kurt's eye in the mirror.

"Well then how do you know it's not going to be the glamorous Lima nightlife?"

Blaine scoffed. "Because _glamorous_ is the last word anyone would ever associate with _me_."

"Well if you would just follow my fashion tips every once in a while…"

"I'm serious, Kurt," Blaine deadpanned. "It's more than that. I wouldn't feel comfortable." His eyes dropped to the thick silver bracelet that had finally been placed on his wrist last week. The palace crest engraved into it officially marked him as property of the royal family.

Kurt saw the action and his expression fell. The prince had noted much being marked by the bracelet seemed to be weighing on Blaine. Kurt had no doubt that he was feeling self-conscious about the metal band and everything it implied. He couldn't blame him.

He knitted his eyebrows together in thought, trying to come at his argument from a different angle. "But, you've been here two weeks already and you haven't even left the palace yet. Don't you want to go experience the city?" he said with an overly enthusiastic tenor in his voice, almost as if he were speaking to a small child. Kurt had been trying to be incredibly careful with what he said to Blaine lately. It was painfully obvious that the curly haired boy wasn't adjusting all that well to his new life in the palace and it was killing Kurt to see the spark in his hazel eyes slowly burning out.

Blaine shrugged. Honestly, a trip into the crowded, dirty, noisy city he remembered from his arrival to the palace wasn't particularly appealing to him. He didn't really see the point of exploring the city when he knew that he'd be confined to the palace walls forever anyway. Why go out and find places he liked when he would never really be able to come back to them? Also, he was still kind of terrified by the prospect of a huge, paved, bustling city when all he'd ever really experienced were expanses of grass and sky. For Blaine, just adjusting to the sprawling palace over the past two weeks had been a daunting process. Kurt had started letting him walk around whenever he wanted (as long as Puck or Mike escorted him), but he still had yet to master the massive network of corridors.

Blaine was fairly certain that Kurt's invitation to join him tonight had to be a pity invite. For the past two weeks, apart from roaming his new surroundings and reading in Kurt's room, Blaine couldn't really find much to do in order to distract himself from how much he missed his home and his brother and his distress had started to seep through into his overall demeanor. The chipper, spirited, optimistic young man that had been an inspiration to his brother back on the vineyard was slowly transforming into a quiet, blank sort of person with his shoulders slumped and eyes cast down.

He always tried to put on a positive face for Kurt though. He knew that Kurt could have demanded a lot of things from him, but he never did. Kurt had remained true to his promise for the past two weeks and he never _made_ his servant do anything. The prince had been patient and kind, obviously sensing Blaine's fragility in his depressed state. Soon enough Blaine found that the only times he caught himself smiling were when he was with the exuberant prince. He didn't think Kurt would ever realize how incredibly thankful he was for his understanding. And as much as Blaine hated it, he had to admit that he had a considerable amount of admiration and respect and - dare he say it – trust for the kind prince building up inside him.

"Kurt," Blaine began after he had gathered his thoughts, "the city is for people like you and your friends. You like to drink and dance and let loose and that's fine, but I – well, I just don't think I can do that. I'm – I'm not in the mood."

Kurt sighed once more before he turned and approached the shorter boy. "Blaine, I know you've been having a pretty hard time lately."

Blaine crossed his arms and threw a sulky stare at the ground.

"But I think that's exactly why you should come. I, more than anybody, know how suffocating the palace walls can be and I'm telling you, it really helps to get out. You can take your mind off everything for a night and just relax."

Blaine raised his stare up to the prince. "I'd just bring you down. You guys don't want me there."

Kurt smiled brightly. "That's where you're wrong. Mercedes already told me she wants you there."

A small flicker of the old spark returned to Blaine's eye at the reminder of the kind stylist.

Kurt's smiled widened at the sight. He stepped closer and placed a hand on Blaine's shoulder. "And _I_ want you there."

The two held eye contact for a long moment, blue searching hazel and vise versa. Then Kurt smirked and suddenly jumped back and lowered himself into a deep, extremely graceful, and well-practiced bow.

"Blaine of Daltonia," he began in a very regal voice.

Blaine raised an eyebrow.

"Would you please grant me the honor of your company this evening?" He raised his head and winked a blue eye at the boy.

Blaine couldn't hold back the smile that pulled at his lips. It was the kind of smile only Kurt's antics could bring out of him these days. "Alright, stop. You're creeping me out," he said with a good humored eye roll.

"Is that a yes?" Kurt questioned hopefully as he straightened up.

Blaine sighed and raised his arms in surrender. "Fine. Yes. I'll go."

Kurt let out a joyful squeal and clapped his hands. "You won't regret it, Blaine. I promise." Then he pressed through the door past Blaine and headed directly to the small dresser by the bed. "Now let's work on the glamorous part. I know Mercedes told me there were some pretty fierce dress shirts in here."

Blaine inhaled a gasp of horror when he saw the prince reach for the top drawer of the dresser. "No! Not that drawer!" he yelped at Kurt.

But it was too late. Kurt already had the drawer open and was unwittingly pulling out an especially skimpy little black number that involved several silver chains.

Blaine froze in shock as Kurt held up the garment in confusion. A moment passed before a look of realization passed over the prince's face and his jaw dropped open.

"…Oh," Kurt breathed, seemingly transfixed by the garb in his hand. "I, uh… I didn't know… I didn't know you had these," said Kurt, trying to play it off in a conversational tone and failing. "I was wondering what Mercedes was working on so hard before my birthday," he added under his breath.

Blaine buried his now tomato-red face in his hands. "Kill me now," he muttered.

Kurt, who had become almost as red faced as Blaine, dropped the underwear back into the dresser and closed the drawer lightly. "Well, umm, I think it's safe to say that that's not the type of glamorous we had in mind for tonight."

Blaine was simply massaging the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, willing himself to sink into the floor and disappear. "Shirts are in the next drawer," he said, still not able to look at Kurt.

"Wonderful," Kurt replied, clearly grateful to move on from the awkward mishap.

There was the sound of some rummaging and then Blaine raised his head and see that Kurt was approaching him, holding up a black shirt.

"Put this on. It'll make your eyes pop so much they'll be visible for miles."

Fifteen minutes later, Kurt had finished running some of the sticky hair stuff Mercedes had used through Blaine's curls and had him stand in front of the mirror for a final look-over.

"It's still missing something," the prince mused.

Blaine looked at his reflection in the mirror and he couldn't help but agree. Kurt was right about the black dress shirt. Apart from making his eyes the immediate focal point of his appearance, it fit him well and hugged his body in all the right places. He wore it tucked into a pair of tailored, gunpowder gray trousers and the look was finished off with the shiniest, fanciest black shoes Blaine had ever worn. But Blaine felt that it was indeed lacking.

_Color_, he thought. _It could use a splash of color_. Then it occurred to him. Blaine immediately turned on his heel and headed back toward his dresser.

"How about this?" he asked a curious looking Kurt when he returned with the strip of fabric he'd discovered on his first day in Kurt's room.

Kurt's mouth instantly curled into a smile. "You want to wear a bowtie?"

"Would that be a bad idea?"

The prince let out a soft laugh. "No, not at all. I think it would really suit you, actually."

Blaine returned the smile. "I, um, I don't know how to tie it…"

Kurt blinked once before Blaine's words sank in. "Oh! That's okay. I got it." Kurt stepped up immediately and draped the fabric around Blaine's shirt collar. "I used to tie all my dad's ties before he married Carol."

Blaine felt his face heat up as the prince tugged at the tie and then readjusted his shirt collar. Kurt finished by centering the bowtie perfectly and then quickly brushing any wrinkles out of the shoulders of Blaine's shirt.

"Voila!" he exclaimed. "Blaine, I do believe we have achieved glamorous. What do you think?" he asked as he turned Blaine back around to appraise his own appearance.

Blaine stared at his reflection. The bowtie was exactly what he needed. Blaine was amazed at how polished and dapper he appeared: clean-shaven, hair styled, fitted clothes, and a bowtie.

A twinge of pride welled inside Blaine when he realized that the man in the mirror was the spitting image of his father. There before him was the younger, happier version of his father that used to exist before his mother had gotten sick. The version that was there when they used to go out on dates together; still as happy as they had been the day they fell in love.

"It's perfect," Blaine said quietly, caught in between feelings of joy and sadness at the reminder of his parents.

"Good! We're all ready to go then!" Kurt exclaimed with another enthusiastic clap of his hands.

Another ten minutes later, Blaine was following Kurt into the open night air of the palace courtyard. Kurt told him that they were meeting everyone else at the main gate to get into the carriage that would take them to wherever it was they were going.

As they approached the group of dressed up young people waiting by the gate, a sudden wave of nervousness settled over Blaine. Everyone looked so beautiful and confident. His demeanor immediately shrank again, feeling like he was way out of his league. Almost subconsciously, he reached his right hand over to his left wrist and made sure the metal bracelet was tucked under his shirt sleeve.

"Kurt! There you are!" a female voice exclaimed. It took Blaine a moment to recognize the speaker as Tina, the girl who delivered his meals to him. His mouth fell open in surprise. He'd always thought Tina was pretty, even in her simple servant's outfit, but the girl that appeared in front of him was a complete bombshell. Her black dress was sparkly and flattering and her hair and makeup looked impeccable. Her eyes and cheekbones were accented to their full advantage and Blaine couldn't believe that this was the same girl he saw every day.

As they got closer, it suddenly occurred to Blaine that he actually recognized every glamorous person in the small crowd. Tina was leaning against a tall man he immediately recognized as Mike without his usual guard uniform. Mercedes looked stunning as always as she stood holding hands with her boyfriend Shane, who was once of Prince Finn's personal guards. From the corner of his eye, he saw Santana and Brittany locked in a fierce kiss a few feet away from the rest of the group, both of them dressed to kill. Prince Finn and Princess Rachel stood close together and were clearly enthralled in some kind of heated discussion.

Blaine was immediately relieved to see that everyone in the group, apart from the two princes and the princess, were servants and then he realized that, duh, these were Kurt's friends he was talking about. Suddenly he didn't even know why he'd expected a whole crowd of A-listers to be accompanying the prince. He knew that these people really were who Kurt considered to be his closest friends. Blaine relaxed slightly in the knowledge that he wasn't really out of his league at all, even thought he still felt horribly out of place.

"Hey Tina!" Kurt replied with a genuine smile as they reached the group. "Hey everyone," he added to the rest of the entourage. "You guys ready to get crazy tonight?" The prince waggled his eyebrows at the group and everyone laughed at his antics.

"We can't go too wild," Prince Finn spoke up in warning tone, which seemed to be mostly directed toward Kurt.

"Finn's right," the princess chimed in after her husband. "This pub asked Finn, Kurt, and me to come there tonight so they could get some publicity. We can't just leave it in shambles or do anything stupid that would overshadow the pub's opening in the newspapers." Her brown eyes were also locked on Kurt as she spoke.

"Oh my God, will you guys relax? I know how to behave myself."

"We know you know how to, Kurt. That doesn't mean you always do…"

"Hey Rachel," Kurt said, cutting off his sister-in-law, "you haven't officially met Blaine yet."

Blaine's breath caught in his throat when Kurt grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward toward Rachel and Finn. He gathered his faculties quickly and, painfully aware of his station as ever, he lowered himself into a bow before the prince and princess. "Pleased to meet you, Your Highnesses," he said before he straightened back up.

Rachel's eyes hovered on Kurt a moment longer before they softened and turned to Blaine. "It's nice to meet you too, Blaine. And, please, there's no need to be so formal. We're all friends here. Call me Rachel. You can call him Finn, too," she said, speaking for her husband. Blaine got the feeling that she probably did that a lot.

"Thank you, Rachel," Blaine said, plastering on his charming smile as took the hand she offered him and kissed it lightly. "And may I say that you look positively lovely this evening?"

Rachel smiled in return. "Oh, Kurt! He's delightful! You must be enjoying him so much."

Blaine blushed lightly at her implication, suddenly realizing that no one there knew that he and Kurt hadn't done anything remotely physical and they probably all just assumed the two of them had been going at it like rabbits for the past two weeks.

Kurt just chuckled lightly. He looked at Blaine and locked eyes with him before he answered. "I am," he said sincerely. "I really am."

Blaine blushed a bit more.

"The carriage is here!" Brittany suddenly exclaimed, apparently having come up for air from Santana. "Oh, hi dolphins!" she added when she saw Kurt and Blaine.

"Hey Britt," Kurt replied. "Satan," he said, acknowledging Santana, whose lips were now a bit red and swollen.

Santana simply nodded in response to Kurt. Then she caught Blaine's eye and shot him a quick, knowing wink.

Blaine just shook his head.

The carriage pulled up outside the gate and the guard on duty opened the metal structure so the group could pass through. Blaine had to admit that it was a relief to be able to walk out of the palace gate again, even if would only be for a short time. As he watched Finn and Rachel climb into the carriage first, Blaine felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hey there," Mercedes greeted him when he turned around.

"Hey!" Blaine said. He was pulling the kind stylist into a hug before he knew what he was doing. He was so unbelievably glad he was finally getting to see Mercedes again. Before that night, she'd always been too busy to meet up with him for any of the lunch dates Kurt tried to set up for them. "How are you?"

"I'm good. Sorry I've been so busy lately, boo. I wanted to meet up with you but the planning for Queen Carol's birthday has been out of control! Don't take it personally, I haven't even had time to see Kurt or Shane lately."

"Don't worry about it. I understand," Blaine replied, beaming.

"Well how are _you_ doing, sweetie?"

Blaine paused. Man, was that a loaded question. He wanted to tell her everything. He wanted to just spill his guts about all his fears and apprehensions and how much he missed his old life and tell her absolutely everything that had been weighing him down since his ordeal began, but this obviously wasn't the time or place.

Then, as if to confirm Blaine's thought about the inappropriateness of the timing, Kurt appeared next to them. "Let's get going, you two. I want to get this night started."

Mercedes smiled at her best friend and then quickly turned back to Blaine and mouthed 'later' over her shoulder. Blaine watched Shane assist her into the carriage.

"Shall we?" Kurt's voice asked from beside him.

Blaine's head snapped to the prince. "Uh, sure," he replied, realizing they were the last two to board. Blaine took in a sharp intake of breath when he felt Kurt's hand rest on the small of his back and guide him gently toward the waiting carriage. Kurt seemed oblivious to the shorter boy's surprise at the gesture.

The carriage was already extremely crammed when Kurt boarded ahead of Blaine. The prince took the last open seat and then held out a hand to his servant. Blaine started at the hand for a moment, confused.

"I, uh, where am I supposed to sit?" he asked, feeling there was some kind of joke going on that he wasn't getting.

"We're a big group tonight and we could only get one carriage," Finn explained from within. It was then that Blaine noticed that Rachel was seated on his lap. And Tina was on Mike's. And Brittney was on Santana's and… _Oh God…_

"Just take a seat in Kurt's lap," Rachel clarified. "It's not a long ride."

_Just take a seat in Kurt's lap? _Blaine's mind screamed frantically. _Like it's just that easy? Just take a nice carriage ride on the crowned prince's lap - the same guy I'm still trying _not_ to have sex with. Just come on in and sit down on his legs. It's no big deal. Yeah, right. _

"C'mon, Blaine. It's okay," Kurt said in an almost soothing tone, still offering his hand. His eyes were wide as he looked at Blaine. They looked full of… hope?

Blaine wondered how rude it would be to turn on his heel at that moment and run like a madman back to Kurt's room and lock himself inside. No way would he have agreed to come if he knew he'd have to ride on top of Kurt. He was trapped now, though. He took a deep breath before finally giving in and accepting the prince's hand. Kurt pulled him gently inside and he carefully, very carefully, lowered himself into his waiting lap. Kurt shifted slightly underneath him and Blaine's pulse quickened.

"Am I crushing you?" he asked in a slight panic, ready to jump back to his feet.

"No!" Kurt replied quickly. "No, you're fine. I told you, you're light. Just relax."

He took another deep breath and tried to pretend he was sitting somewhere, anywhere else.

The chauffer closed the carriage door and went back around to his seat in the front. In another moment, he signaled the horses and the carriage lurched forward. Blaine, sitting as rigidly upright as possible at the very edge of Kurt's knees, almost fell right onto the floor, but a strong hand caught him around the waist and pulled him farther back just in time.

"Blaine, seriously," Kurt said with a laugh in his voice, "relax! Lean back a little."

Blaine realized he really wasn't going to get out of this situation, so although his heart was still pounding and he'd started to sweat, he figured he might as well make himself as comfortable as possible for the duration. He turned slightly in Kurt's lap so that his back was

leaning against the side of the carriage rather than Kurt's chest and he could face the rest of the group. Blaine expected Kurt to take his hand away from his waist once he'd settled, but to his surprise Kurt didn't let go. In fact, once Blaine was seated sideways across his legs, the prince reached forward with his other hand, placed it casually across Blaine's knees, and pulled the shorter boy even farther back into him.

"There you go," Kurt practically whispered. He shot Blaine a satisfied smile before he turned to join in the conversation with the others, leaving his hands resting on the boy's waist and knees.

Blaine swallowed hard. He sat dumbfounded for a while while Kurt held onto him, squeezing him slightly whenever the carriage went over a bump or took a fast corner. He sat very still, trying not to create any unnecessary friction between them, and stayed silent for the rest of the ride.

The pub was called Scandals and that night was its opening night. When the carriage arrived in front of the place, it was already swarming with people, some of which were pressing up against the windows of the carriage as soon as it stopped.

"Geez, the whole city must have heard we were coming tonight," said Finn, looking wide-eyed but not surprised at the faces pushing in on them.

Blaine was immediately reminded of the crowd that pressed on him the day he arrived and a sense of claustrophobia came over him. His body stiffened in Kurt's lap.

Sensing this, Kurt squeezed the boy's knee affectionately to get his attention. "Hey, don't worry about them," he said with a reassuring smile. "This tends to happen wherever we go, but it's pretty harmless. Just stick close to me."

Blaine tried to return the prince's smile but the resulting expression looked more like he was having gas pains. At that moment, Blaine honestly wasn't sure if he'd rather stick close to Kurt and his oddly amplified affectionate behavior or just let himself get lost in the sea of star-struck, crazed citizens. Both options scared him.

The group piled out of the carriage and made their way through the throng led by Mike and Shane who made sure none of the gawking bystanders posed any kind of threat. They bypassed the long line of people waiting to get in and the guard at the door immediately opened the door for them. Finn, Rachel, and Kurt walked right inside. Blaine was startled when he suddenly felt a sharp jerk on his arm as he tried to enter after them.

"No slaves," the guard who'd grabbed him said in a gruff voice. He nodded toward the silver cuff on Blaine's wrist where his sleeve had ridden up. "You have to wait out back with the rest."

"But I'm with…" Blaine began, but he was cut off when the guard shoved him back sharply.

"I don't believe I asked you for an explanation, slave," he hissed. "You wait in the back for your master like the rest of your kind."

Blaine's mouth hardened into a line. It wasn't the first time he'd been treated like this since he'd become a slave, but he had hoped he'd left this kind of cruelty behind for good with Kurt as his master. Apparently discrimination was still running rampant outside the palace walls.

"Hey!" Kurt's angry voice cut the air like a knife. "Don't you dare touch him," he growled as he reemerged from the pub door.

The big guard's mouth fell open in surprise. "Y-Your Highness! I'm so sorry! I didn't realize he belonged to you…"

"Yeah, well maybe you should've bothered to check the crest on his cuff before you shoved him. No one lays a hand on _my_ slaves. No one." Kurt narrowed his eyes at the guard menacingly.

Blaine shivered slightly at Kurt's declaration. He'd never heard him use the word 'slave' before, and it sounded strange coming out of him mouth. Especially when his tone was so angry, which Blaine had never really heard before either.

"My apologies…"

"He's coming inside with me. Them too," he said motioning to Mercedes, Tina, Brittany, and Santana who had been silently watching the exchange from behind Blaine. "They're people, you know. They work hard and deserve a night out just as much as anyone else. They don't deserve to wait outside like dogs. None of them do," the prince lectured.

The guard was becoming more terrified as Kurt continued to lay into him. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, but it's just our policy here," he tried to explain.

"And you can rest assured that that is a matter I will be taking up with the owner. Now kindly step aside and let my _friends_ come through." Kurt turned on his heel and motioned for his five stunned friends to follow him.

"Damn, boy! That was fierce!" Mercedes exclaimed once they were all inside the crowded pub.

"That was ridiculous, is what it was," Kurt snapped, still seething. "I can't believe how small minded people in this kingdom still are. I mean, come on. The future king is _gay_ for God's sake! The discrimination has got to stop." He let out a frustrated sigh and closed his eyes for a moment, clearly trying to calm himself down. When he reopened them, the anger was gone but it was replaced by a glint of concern. He turned to Blaine. "Are you alright?" he asked in a tone that matched his eyes.

It took Blaine a moment to answer. His mind was still spinning from what had just occurred. He'd never seen Kurt so enraged or so passionate about something. It was terrifying and admirable all at once. And while he was glad that Kurt had stuck up for him, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed and even a little bit guilty. Blaine suddenly felt like he must be a huge burden to the prince. He knew Kurt was too much of a gentleman to ever admit it, but Blaine thought he must have been feeling at least slightly annoyed at having to look out for him like a small child. He knew Kurt liked to drink and dance and let loose. _The last thing he needs when he goes out is to have to babysit me._

"I'm fine, Kurt. Don't worry about it. I've had worse," he replied in a dismissive tone.

"Are you sure? He didn't hurt you or anything?" Kurt reached out and placed a hand on Blaine's shoulder, blue eyes were still glazed in concern.

"No, no I'm fine. Please stop worrying. I - I don't want to ruin your fun." Blaine was suddenly hyperaware of the hundreds of eyes in the pub that had fallen on him – all probably wondering why he was there and why he was monopolizing all of the prince's attention. Honestly, Blaine was wondering the same thing.

A small smile pulled at Kurt's mouth. "You're not ruining my fun, Blaine. That guy was a jerk." Then he moved his hand down Blaine's arm and, to the other boy's surprise, joined it with his. "Come on. Let's get some drinks," he said to a speechless Blaine. Then he turned toward the rest of the group and pointed to the bar at the back of the large room. "To the alcohol!" he exclaimed, making the others laugh as he pulled Blaine by the hand.

This drew even more curious looks form bystanders, making Blaine's discomfort increase. Kurt didn't let go until they reached the bar.

"What can I get for you, Your Highness?" the barkeeper asked Kurt as soon as he approached, cutting off another customer in the middle of his order.

"I'll have white wine, he'll have red," Kurt said, motioning toward Blaine, "and I would like to order an entire cask of your finest summer ale."

"What!" Mercedes and Santana said in unison behind Kurt.

Blaine's eyes bulged. He'd heard that Kurt liked to drink a lot when he went out, but a whole cask was absurd.

"…An entire cask, Your Highness?" the barkeeper asked, looking utterly confused.

"Yes. I would like to buy a cask of the best ale you have and I want it brought outside to all the slaves waiting there."

Blaine's mouth dropped open, as did the barkeeper's and everyone else's within hearing range.

"It's not right that they have to wait outside like animals," Kurt explained. "I'm sick and tired of people thinking that's okay. If anyone deserves a drink, it's them. So please get a cask ready and take it out to them, okay?"

The barkeeper closed and opened his mouth again, clearly trying to think of a way to protest the prince's request without offending him. But then Kurt reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. Without breaking eye contact with the stunned barkeeper, he dropped the undetermined amount of money onto the bar and put on a satisfied smirk.

The barkeeper's eyes immediately widened at the sight of the cash. "Y-yes… Right away, Your Highness," he said before grabbing the money, turning around, and disappearing into a room behind the bar.

Blaine's mouth remained hanging open in shock. _Wow_, was the only thought he could process. It was becoming more and more evident to Blaine that Santana had been right. When Prince Kurt wanted something, he got it; and he did not give up until he did.

Kurt saw Blaine's dopy stare and his smirk melted into a smile. "What?" he asked with a laugh in his voice.

"Nothing. You're just… still full of surprises, I guess," Blaine said. His throat had suddenly become quite dry. "That was just, wow…"

Kurt continued to smile warmly at the remark as another barkeeper appeared with their wine. "I'll cheers to 'wow,'" he said, taking a big swig.

Blaine smiled and had just raised his glass to his lips when Mercedes suddenly grabbed him by the arm.

"Blaine! Come dance with me!" she exclaimed. "Kurt, I'm stealing him for a couple of songs, alright? Shane's talking to somebody and I need a partner!"

Kurt laughed as Mercedes began to pull Blaine toward the dance floor. "That's fine. I still need to give the owner a piece of my mind," he said adding a cheeky wink.

"I can't believe Kurt did that!" Blaine exclaimed as he spun Mercedes in a circle with one hand while holding his wine in the other.

"I told you my boy doesn't like people being treated badly," she answered with a bright smile. "Speaking of which, has he been behaving himself?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean with _you_. You guys look like you're doing pretty well, but he hasn't done anything stupid has he? Do I need to go back over there and smack him upside his big old royal head?"

Blaine blushed lightly, realizing again that she was operating under the assumption that they'd probably been having all kinds of kinky sex since he'd gotten there. "N-no. He's been fine. A perfect gentleman," he replied meekly.

Mercedes smiled. "See, I told you he'd be nice."

Blaine spun her again in time with the music the band was playing. He was just leading her in a simple dance with easy footwork that anyone could pick up. It was all he could really do with a glass in his hand plus he was feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything to really be all that interested in dancing. Back home, Blaine had loved to dance. His family never had enough money to let him have formal dance lessons, but he'd still learned all he could from watching others and dancing for hours on end at his town's many festivals. At his house, he would sing and dance around while he did chores, jumping on furniture and making his family smile with his antics. Dancing was a happy, carefree thing for him. But now, here at the pub, he had way too much weighing on his mind to let loose like he used to.

He found himself glancing over to where Kurt still stood at the bar. The prince was talking adamantly with an older guy behind the bar who Blaine assumed had to be the owner. A smile pulled at his lips. He really was impressed and even touched by how much Kurt genuinely _cared_ about the real issues in his kingdom.

"How about your pendant?" Mercedes asked.

Blaine pulled his eyes away from Kurt. "What?" Blaine said, flustered by the abruptness of the question.

"Your mom's pendant. Kurt let you keep it, didn't he?"

"Oh, um, yeah." He paused and bit his lip.

Mercedes raised an eyebrow.

Blaine sighed before he continued. "Actually, he hasn't seen it yet."

Mercedes's confused expression intensified. "What? How? Do you take it off when you guys…"

"No," Blaine cut her off, blushing deeply. "No, I never take it off. It's just that I've been keeping tucked into my shirt and, well, Kurt's never seen me without my shirt on."

Mercedes was totally perplexed. She stopped moving in Blaine's arms and stared at him. "Wait a minute… are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Blaine just bit his lip again, hoping she'd figure it out herself so he wouldn't have to say it out loud.

"He's never even seen you naked! You guys haven't done it yet?"

"Shh! Mercedes!"

"Oh my God! Are you kidding me? You're _still_ a virgin?"

"Mercedes! Keep it down, will you?"

"Oh my God!" she repeated, covering her mouth with her hands in surprise. "I don't believe it! How have you managed to keep him off of you? A rolled up newspaper?"

"Mercedes…"

She was now full out laughing, unable to hold back any longer. "No, seriously," she gasped between laughing, "what do you do? Is it like a dog? Do you kick him in the balls when he jumps on you?" She dissolved into another fit of silent laughter.

"No," Blaine said, crossing his arms. "He doesn't _jump_ on me. Like I said, he's been a gentleman."

Mercedes took a deep breath, trying to calm down before she continued. "Okay, okay. So you haven't had sex yet. What do you guys do together then? Kurt's been spending way more time in his room than ever before lately and I just assumed it was because he had you to play with."

"We um, well, we talk. And we work on his homework together sometimes. We've gone on a few walks… Um, Kurt sings a lot…"

"Oh my goodness. Blaine…"

"… what?"

"What is the freakin' hold up? And don't even try to tell me it's _Kurt_ saying that you should go slow because I wouldn't believe you for a second."

"I… I just… it sounds stupid."

"Just tell me!"

"Well, I know it's supposed to be my job. I get that. And I get that Kurt is being _beyond_ understanding by not forcing me, but is it so wrong of me to still want my first time to be something more special than just an attempt at quelling Kurt's sex drive for a little while? Which I can tell is building up, by the way. He's been pretty handsy tonight. I don't know how much longer I can hold him off."

Mercedes smiled. "Well, what if you didn't try to hold him off?"

"What do you mean? Just… give in?"

"Would that be so terrible? You say you want your first time to be special… Kurt is a pretty special guy, Blaine. I think you and I both know that by now, having sex with you would mean more to him than just a convenience lay. He brought you out with us tonight. He bitched out that guard for shoving you, and he has barely kept his eyes off of you since we came over here."

Blaine looked over his shoulder at that moment to see Kurt snap his eyes away from his direction and back to the barkeeper.

"See?" Mercedes said, knowing she'd just nailed her point home. "He _cares_ about you."

Blaine shook his head. "He feels bad for me. He's just seen how down I've been lately. Tonight was just a pity invite. I'm sure it just looks like he's looking over at the dance floor because he's scoping out the best looking guy he can find to dance with."

It was Mercedes's turn to shake her head. "He's been turning down offers since we left him. I've counted four guys he's shot down, and I haven't even been watching the whole time."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "What? Why? I thought he loved to dance."

She shrugged. "He must be holding out for someone _special_," she said with a devious look. "Oh! Speak of the devil. Here he comes."

Mercedes moved to break away from Blaine, but he held on to her tightly.

"No! Mercedes, don't leave me," he said in a slight panic.

"Sorry, boy. It looks like you're spoken for. And I have to get back to Shane."

"But… all these guys here… why does he wanna dance with _me_?"

"Looks like he found the best looking guy to dance with." Mercedes threw him a mischievous wink and maneuvered out of his grip. "Think about what I said. You could do a lot worse than my boy Kurt," she whispered before she moved past Blaine. "He's all yours, boo!" she said cheerfully as she passed Kurt.

Blaine stood frozen in wide-eyed terror as a smiling Kurt approached him.

The prince bent into his well-trained bow once again before Blaine. "May I have this dance?" he said, sticking out a hand.

Blaine swallowed hard and managed to nod. He could feel that his eyes were probably the size of saucers when Kurt took his hand in his own and wrapped the other around his waist.

At that moment, a waiter wooshed by and took Blaine's empty wine glass from his hand without a word. He had nowhere else to put the now empty hand besides the prince's shoulder.

Kurt began to move them around in time with the music. At first, Blaine found it a bit awkward to follow a lead, but then decided it was actually kind of nice to just go with the flow. Blaine already assumed that Kurt would be an expert dancer. He knew the prince had dance lessons twice a week. And now, seeing him in action, Blaine knew his assumption was correct. Kurt moved so gracefully and confidently that it was hard not to be impressed.

"Y-you're a good dancer," Blaine said meekly, trying to initiate some sort of neutral conversation.

Kurt smirked. "Thank you, Blaine. You're pretty good yourself. I was watching you dance with Mercedes." Kurt pulled the shorter boy a bit closer. "I decided I had to try you out for myself," he added with a chuckle.

Blaine blushed deeply. So much for neutral conversation. He couldn't manage an answer to that bold statement, so the two just continued to dance with Blaine avoiding eye contact all the while.

Over the course of the next hour, Kurt had not separated from Blaine once. He'd gradually pulled the other boy in so close that there was only about an inch between their torsos. During this time, Blaine witnessed his dance partner turn down eight different offers to buy him a drink and five different offers to dance. By the time Kurt rejected his sixth offer, Blaine found his heart pounding so hard it was physically uncomfortable, and it wasn't because of the quick pace of the dancing.

He was still stressing out about keeping Kurt from having fun, still convincing himself that the prince was turning down all of the offers because he felt like he needed to keep him company. Also, he'd received so many hateful glares from Kurt's many admirers that he felt like public enemy number one in the pub.

"Kurt," he began once the music had slowed, "you can go dance with someone else, if you want. Don't feel like you have to stick by me."

Kurt just looked back at him with a puzzled expression. "What? Why wouldn't I want to stick by you?"

A smiled pulled at Blaine's lips. "I just mean, if you want to go dance with someone else, I understand. I don't want to stop you from doing what you want."

Kurt put on his signature smirk. "Well, you're in luck then," he began. Then he released Blaine's hand and moved that arm down to join his other one around Blaine's waist. Blaine was left with no alternative other than to place his arms up around the prince's neck for the slow dance. "Because I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing," Kurt whispered into Blaine's ear, causing a shiver to race down his spine.

Blaine couldn't hold back the swell of suppressed emotions that rose to the surface at that moment. With this new closeness, every feeling about Kurt he'd been fighting flared up with a new intensity. But this time, the guilty twist in his gut did not come with them. A new form of excitement washed over him that he had never allowed himself to feel previously.

"You're special, Blaine," Kurt continued softly. "You're the only one I want to dance with."

Blaine shuddered against the prince at these words. He wasn't sure how to deal with all the feelings that were flooding over him. His mind, the part of him that was aware of Kurt's history and Santana's warnings and was full of anxiety about almost every aspect of his out of control life, was screaming at him to get up and run away; but his body, the part of him that felt Kurt's body heat next to him each night and somehow craved the same closeness that scared him to death, was begging him to stay put and let Kurt continue the soft embrace and easy swaying. He felt like he had a thousand different instincts screaming at him at once but, to his surprise, the one that he found himself listening to was the one that told him to squeeze this beautiful boy in front of him even closer. Letting himself settle into Kurt's hold, Blaine found that it was suddenly quite easy to just let his doubts drift away, sway with the music, and let himself have what he was sure he never could.

_"You could do a lot worse than my boy Kurt,"_ Mercedes's words replayed in his mind along with Santana's prediction of his budding attraction to Kurt. At that moment, as he swayed in Kurt's arms, he suddenly couldn't remember a single reason why he'd resisted his feelings. It was sinking in. Kurt was obviously a great guy who was genuinely caring and humble. He was a perfect gentleman, he was witty, intelligent, gorgeous, and he was a really great friend.

_And he thinks _I'm_ special, _he thought. _This amazing guy could have his pick of literally anyone in the world and he chose me._ Blaine couldn't resist the smile that pulled on his lips.

He settled his head on Kurt's shoulder and let himself revel in the feeling of prince's tight hold on him, not wanting to move away. His smile widened when he felt the prince start to nuzzle his face into his neck affectionately. He felt Kurt's warm, even breaths on his bare skin and relaxed into the sensation, feeling scared but somehow perfectly secure at the same time.

The pair swayed to the slow music, reveling in one another's closeness and in the exciting uncertainty of breaking down their first physical barrier together.

Kurt concentrated on the softness of Blaine's skin against his cheek. He smiled slightly to himself when he smelled the familiar scent of his own soap on the boy's skin. It smelled so familiar yet so intriguingly different on Blaine. Before the prince could stop himself or think better of it, he turned his head to the side and pressed his lips to the enticing skin of Blaine's neck.

Blaine let out a small gasp at the sensation and goosebumps flared all over his body. A mixture of pleasure and fear erupted inside him. Conflicted, he pulled his head back slightly to look at Kurt's face. Those deep, blue eyes were there to greet him, looking sincere and certain and _beautiful_ and Blaine knew that was it. He'd finally given in. And in that moment, the exact thing he'd feared since he'd left the vineyard was now the very thing that was making him feel full, and safe, and wanted again.

Kurt looked back at Blaine and saw the uncertainty visibly drain from his sad eyes. They were transforming right before him. That spark, that elusive little glimmer of something happy that he'd been chasing for two weeks was finally back. An elated, triumphant heat rose up in the prince's chest at the sight. Blaine had never looked so beautiful.

Blaine saw Kurt's eyes drop to his lips. He could tell the action was done on purpose. It was an unspoken request.

With his heart beating harder than ever before, Blaine tilted his head up to the prince in response to his silent question. He concentrated on lining their lips up perfectly as he leaned toward the taller boy. He felt Kurt just begin to lean back into him when a voice sounded from behind them.

"What in the _hell _is this!" a clearly distraught male voice exclaimed.

Kurt broke away from Blaine to turn toward the voice.

"Chandler," he breathed, a look of surprise and something like terror coming over his face, "w-what are you doing here?"

"I heard you were going to be here, so I came. I felt like the only way I could get you to actually talk to me was if I cornered you." The obviously angry blond man's menacing eyes cut to Blaine. "Now I see why you've been so hard to get a hold of."

Blaine stood frozen in confusion, just looking back and forth between the prince and the stranger.

"Chandler, listen," Kurt began in a careful voice. "I'm sorry I never got back to you, but I have…"

"Oh, save it, Kurt!" he spat back, cutting Kurt off. "I'm not stupid. I've been watching you two since I got here. I can see why you never got back to me." He threw another glance at Blaine and then his resolve seemed to crumble immediately. His expression went from furious to heartbroken in an instant. "I just don't get it," he began in a much softer tone. "Why would you say all those things to me if you didn't mean them?"

When Chandler raised his eyes to Kurt, Blaine could see his tears beginning to well up.

Kurt stood speechless for a moment longer, looking totally bewildered. Chandler simply crumbled further under the intensity of the silence and broke down into sobs where he stood.

"Kurt?" Blaine questioned, "what's going on?"

"Don't worry about it, Blaine. I'll handle this. Why don't you just go over to the bar for a minute, okay?"

Before Blaine could react to Kurt's obviously avoidant reply, Chandler spoke.

"You… you told me I was special," he choked out.

Blaine froze at the mention of the word. His word. _"You're special, Blaine." _

"Chandler…" Kurt began, only to be cut off again.

"You told me I was the only one you cared about dancing with that night – that no one else compared," Chandler continued, becoming more hysterical as he went. "And I believed you! I was so stupid I believed you. And then, we had that one amazing night together and you left in the morning and I never heard from you again! What is that, Kurt?"

"Chandler, listen to me. I didn't mean to blow you off like that…"

Blaine turned and walked away at that point, unable to listen to any more. He stumbled blindly through the crowd and out the front door of the bar. His thoughts didn't catch up with him until he felt the fresh night air on his face.

He struggled to maintain his breathing as he began to process the onslaught of anger, hurt, and embarrassment that crashed down on him. He'd finally let his guard down on Kurt and it bit him in the ass. That crafty, sweet-talking charmer had him fooled – had him exactly where he wanted him.

The exact same thing. Kurt had told Chandler the exact same things he'd told Blaine. Blaine felt tricked, used, and angrier with himself than he'd ever been before.

_You knew he's a player_, Blaine mentally ranted to himself. _You knew that and you still fell for it. You actually thought you could be special to him… you idiot._

Blaine's legs began to shake so badly that he had to take a seat on the curb. He pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes and just concentrated on not crying. He didn't know how long he sat there before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Blaine immediately shrugged the hand off, really not wanting to be touched at that moment. Then he stood to see who had approached him.

"Hey," Kurt said cautiously when Blaine turned toward him. His clear eyes were full of what looked like concern and remorse and Blaine's heart broke because, for the first time, he didn't feel like he could believe what he saw in the blue orbs.

"Are you alright?" Kurt asked, resisting the urge to pull the scared, hurt boy in front of him into his arms.

Blaine was fighting back tears as he turned his gaze to the sidewalk. "No, not really," he answered, not having the energy to pretend he wasn't devastated.

"Blaine, listen. The last time I saw Chandler was over a month ago. I haven't been with anyone since."

"What about Sam on your birthday?"

Kurt paused. "Okay, let me clarify. I haven't had sex with anyone since."

Blaine winced. "You said… you said you only had sex with people you loved."

"I said I've only had sex with people I _thought_ I loved. And you need to understand, Blaine, that I used to have a pretty loose grip on what it meant to be in love, alright? But now I realize how stupid I was. I never understood until…" the prince trailed off.

"Until what?"

Kurt simply took another step toward Blaine. "I really care about you, Blaine. I know you probably don't believe me right now, but I swear I was being honest with you in there. You are so special to me."

"No," Blaine interjected, letting his anger begin to seep out. "_I_ was being honest in there, Kurt. I trusted you. You made me feel like I was… I don't know… safe. I really thought that maybe we had something." Blaine started to shake his head. Tears were now running freely down his face. "But that's what you do for all of them, don't you? I bet they all felt special."

"Blaine…" Kurt said, sounding totally crushed.

"Stop, Kurt. Just stop. I just want to go home."

Kurt dropped his head in defeat. "I'll go get Mike and we can take a carriage back." Kurt turned back toward the bar and disappeared inside.

Blaine wanted to yell after him that the palace was not what he meant by home, but he knew that that would be a dead-end argument.

Blaine did not look over at Kurt the whole ride back to the castle. He kept his eyes glued to the cityscape flashing by the window and let himself get lost in his thoughts.

By the time the two arrived back at Kurt's room, Blaine had stopped crying and had assumed an utterly blank expression. Kurt's heart sank at the sight, fearing that the last of Blaine's spark had been extinguished.

The completely defeated looking Blaine walked over to his dresser without a word. Not knowing what else he could possibly say to the boy, Kurt simply sighed and went to change in his closet. He pulled on a pair of pajamas, which was rare for the prince but he felt like it was already uncomfortable enough with Blaine tonight, so there was no need to involve nudity as well. He stopped dead in his tracks when he turned to walk back out into his room. There, in his closet doorway, stood Blaine. Shirtless.

After a moment of shocked staring, Kurt managed words. "B-Blaine, what are you doing?"

"Do you want to have sex with me, Kurt?" the expressionless Blaine asked bluntly.

Kurt's mouth fell open. "I…I… what?" he stammered.

"If you want to fuck me, you can. You don't have to pretend to be a gentleman anymore."

Kurt's shock deepened. He'd never heard Blaine use language like that. It sounded terrible coming from him. It was so wrong. And his heart broke when he heard 'pretend to be a gentleman.' Had he really screwed up so badly that, after everything they'd been through and talked about the past two weeks, Blaine couldn't see that he honestly didn't want to take advantage of him?

"Blaine, why are you doing this?"

Blaine took a step toward Kurt but kept his eyes to the floor. "Because I'm through pretending. I know what my real role is here. I never had any real shot of making it special. I see that now. So there's just no reason to hold back anymore."

Kurt felt tears begin to well up at Blaine's words. He had never beheld a more broken person in his entire life, and Blaine was broken because of _him_. It was all because of him and his stupid, inconsiderate actions in the past. He understood what Blaine must have thought of him, but he'd hoped that the other boy would have been able to see him for the man he'd become – the man that honestly cared so deeply for Blaine that he didn't care if they were ever intimate. He just wanted him to be happy. Blaine _was_ special, and he deserved more than this. And Kurt had to prove it to him.

"I'm not going to have sex with you, Blaine. I care about you too much for that."

Blaine's eyes snapped up and his empty expression immediately twisted into one of anger. "Oh cut the bullshit, Kurt! You don't have to pretend anymore! Just be fucking honest for once and fuck me like you're supposed to!"

Before Kurt could react, Blaine had crossed the forbidden threshold into the closet and grabbed the prince by the shoulders. He was only inches away from capturing the taller boy's lips in a crushing, hateful kiss when Kurt turned his head. Blaine's mouth landed right under Kurt's jaw and immediately started sucking and biting.

"Blaine! Stop it!" Kurt pleaded, trying to wrestle the other boy off of him. He managed to grab a hold of Blaine's arms and push him backward. "Stop this!" he yelled at the still struggling Blaine. "We are _not _doing this!"

Blaine's teary gaze met Kurt's and Kurt almost gasped at the pure despair he saw there. Blaine stopped struggling and collapsed into a sobbing heap on the closet floor.

"Please, Kurt," he whispered through his sobs. "I need it. I need to feel like I'm worth _something _to somebody."

Kurt's heart broke all over again at the statement. It sounded exactly like something he himself would have said up until a few weeks ago, when he was deep in his promiscuity and his desperate search for a feeling of worth. This was the last thing he ever wanted to happen to Blaine. This polite, intelligent, witty, beautiful man, the man that had given him something to look forward to everyday, was the last person in the world who deserved to feel worthless.

Kurt knelt down next to Blaine. "Blaine, you are already worth more to me than you'll ever know." He took a breath before he continued. "I've been where you are. And I know it's my fault you're there, but I am not going to sleep with you because you mean too much to me to let you succumb to this feeling."

Blaine kept sobbing. Kurt could only hope he was still listening.

"I'm so sorry I broke your trust, and you can rest assured that I am going to do absolutely everything in my power to earn it back."

Blaine didn't answer. He lay crumpled on the closet floor for about another half an hour before Kurt could coax him over to the bed for the night. The prince settled himself on the couch, determined to start building Blaine's trust back up the very next morning.

For the next hour, Kurt's heart broke even further at the sound of broken sobs coming from the bed. Both boys ended up crying themselves to sleep.


	10. Ch 10: Words and Fists

**Chapter 10**

**Words and Fists**

_Blaine felt cold. The breeze seeping into the barn through the hole in the roof chilled him to the bone and he shivered as he stared up at the exposed night sky. It was eerily blank and dark and although it was a perfectly clear night, Blaine did not see a single star shining above him. It was too dark. It was too quiet. Blaine began to feel uneasy._

_ He reached out in the darkness in order to feel the reassuring presence of Joel next to him, but his searching hand found nothing but the rough straw of the makeshift bed. He perched himself up on his elbow and squinted into the darkness, trying to pick up any trace of his big brother. But it was no use. Without the light of stars that usually allowed him to navigate through the dark, Blaine couldn't even see his own hand in front of his face._

_Blaine felt panic start to build up inside him. "Joel?" he said into the abyss that surrounded him. _

_ No response. Only darkness. Only cold._

_ He sat up and hugged his knees to his chest, feeling like it was so dark that he might even lose track of himself if he didn't hold on. "Joel, where are you?" he tried again. The only sound that answered him was the pounding of his own heart in his ears. _

_ Blaine swallowed and sucked in a deep, ragged breath. The air was so cold that it stung his chest when he inhaled. It was like the cold, dark, nothingness around him was creeping its way inside of him, trying to take him over and turn him into nothing as well. He threw his head back and looked back up at the sky, but the blank expanse just blended seamlessly into the void surrounding him. Where were the stars he had grown so accustomed to watching? Where was the light and the heat they brought him every night? What he would have given to be able to get lost in their beauty again! Had this nothingness swallowed them up too?_

_ "Joel?" he tried one more time, feeling tears start to brim in his eyes. "Dad? Dad, can you hear me?"_

_ Silence._

_ A sob wracked through Blaine's bent frame. "Mom," he whispered into the night. He let his head drop onto his huddled knees as the sobs continued. "Kurt… anybody… please," he choked out. _

_ There was no one there. There was no one to answer him; no one to tell him he'd be alright. He was alone. All he could do was try to endure this freezing, starless emptiness and try not to get lost._

Blaine awoke with a gasp, inhaling sharply and erratically like he'd been choking. It took him a moment to catch his breath and get his bearings. He turned his head to his right to see that the other half of the bed was empty, and then the memory of the previous night hit him like a tidal wave.

He let out a groan as it all came flooding back: the carriage ride, the pub, the dancing, the kiss that would have been, Chandler, and then the pathetic display in Kurt's closet in which he'd thrown himself at the prince in desperation. Blaine rolled over and pulled the covers over his head, wishing he could just sink into the mattress and disappear. In that moment, he felt like he would never be able to get up and face Kurt ever again. Not only was he embarrassed; he was hurt. He didn't know how he was supposed to look Kurt in the eyes again after he'd let himself be so vulnerable. Putting himself on the line like that, almost handing himself over to Kurt, had taken more courage than he'd ever put forth, and it had only resulted in his complete and utter humiliation and devastation. He didn't know he was supposed to get up and face the guy who'd hurt him so badly, but he knew he was stuck with that duty. He knew he didn't have a choice in the matter; he never did.

So with a painful sigh (his chest still hurt from sobbing so much the night before), Blaine pushed the covers back off of his head and sat up. His brow wrinkled in confusion, though, when he did not see the prince sleeping over on the couch. In fact, he didn't see Kurt anywhere. His eyes drifted over to the huge windows and he squinted against the intense sunlight that was seeping through the light curtains. The sun was already high in the sky over the city. He'd overslept.

Blaine got up and cursed under his breath. He crossed the room to find that the pillow and blanket Kurt had used on the couch last night were folded and stacked neatly on the cushion. Kurt must have taken care of it himself before he left that morning. A wave of anger rolled through Blaine. Why wouldn't Kurt have just woken him? He sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. Would Kurt ever just let him do his job right? Now that he understood that something special happening with Kurt was pure fantasy, he didn't get why Kurt was still trying to be nice. He really didn't need to be anymore. It made things too hard.

He was about to turn back to the bed and make it up the way he had every morning since his arrival, but he stopped when he noticed a folded piece of paper sitting on top of the folded blanket. "_Blaine_" was written in Kurt's elegant script across the side of the paper that was face-up. Knowing that Kurt left it, Blaine wasn't altogether sure if he wanted to even touch the note. He really wasn't too keen on anything Kurt had to say to him anymore. Blaine stood staring at the folded paper for a solid minute debating with himself before he finally gave in and picked it up. He took a deep breath and started reading:

_Blaine,_

_I know that I could never apologize enough times to express to you how sorry I am about last night. But I won't even try to say I'm sorry, because I know that words are not going to fix this. You've made me realize that I need to take responsibility for my past if I want to have the slightest chance at happiness in the future. I know that it was my past actions that lost me your trust, so it will be my current actions that I hope can gain it back. I care about your happiness, and I've been letting it slip away before my eyes for too long. That's going to change now. _

_First, I have arranged for you to be able to write a letter to your brother. I know its technically illegal, but please don't worry about the exact logistics of how I worked it out. Just know that Joel will get it. Write whatever you want. No one will read it except you and him. The stationary is already set up on my desk. Just give the envelope to Puck when you're done and it'll be on its way to Daltonia. _

_Also, when you're finished, I've told Puck to bring you to me. I have something planned for you that I think you need. I know you probably just want some space from me right now, but I can't you waste another day alone in my room._

_I'm not going to let you down anymore, Blaine. I promise. And you have that in writing._

_-Kurt_

Blaine stared at the note in his hands. He hated Kurt for doing this to him. He hated Kurt for making him trust him, then treating him like he was no better than one of his night club whores, then trying to build him back up with declarations about _caring about him_ and _trying harder_.

And he was scared. He was scared of Kurt. The idea of trusting him again, the idea of letting his guard down and melting into him again the way he'd done last night was terrifying. It scared him that Kurt seemed to have this power over his emotions, and that no matter how much he fought it, he still found himself admiring Kurt for this gesture. Because to Blaine, sending Joel a letter sounded like the best thing in the world right now.

He never thought he'd get a chance to correspond with his brother ever again. It was illegal in the kingdom for slaves to send or receive mail because of the nobles' fears of loyalty issues and the organizing of rebellions. So, he had no idea how Kurt would arrange for Joel to get this letter, but he decided to believe in at least that part of his note and not question it. This might be his last chance to communicate with Joel, after all. Who knew where he'd end up after the baby was born?

Before he even realized he'd moved, Blaine was sitting down in Kurt's desk chair, staring down at the blank piece stationary in front of him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he picked up the quill pen and dipped it into the ink well. Then he let the dam break, and all his emotions came flooding out onto the paper.

_~From the desk of~_

_HRH Prince Kurtis Ignatius Elizabeth Hubert Hummel _

_of the Kingdom of Lima:_

_Carmel, Daltonia, McKinley, and crown dependencies_

_Joel,_

_Hey big brother. First of all, I'm okay. So you should wipe that worried look off your face. You'll get frown lines like Dad. _

_Second, I don't know if Count Lamore told you anything more after I left, but I am in Lima at the Royal Palace like the guards said that night. Turns out King Burt sent the guards to Daltonia to find a slave for Prince Kurt's 18__th__ birthday. Yeah, that Prince Kurt, if you couldn't tell by the pretentious stationary heading. And, well, you get the gist. _

_Don't freak out. I know you're freaking out, but I'm okay. Physically anyway. I eat okay and everything. And no, Kurt hasn't made me do anything with him. In fact, he started out as pretty much the perfect gentleman. We were getting to be pretty good friends for a while. He even had me thinking that I might be a really decent guy, but let's just say that I saw his true colors come out last night and now I'm not so sure about him. I mean, he is letting me write you this letter, but I don't trust him anymore. I feel like an idiot for even letting myself think he found me special. He's manipulative, Joel. He knows exactly what to say to make people trust him and then he takes advantage. I think all the gossip we've heard even way out in Daltonia had it right: he's nothing but a player. It scares me to be here with him now. _

_But I don't know what to do. Technically, I belong to him and he can do whatever he wants with me. Hell, right after I write this letter I'm apparently supposed to "be brought to him." I don't know what that's about, but I'm not looking forward to it. _

_So, I'm stuck here and I don't have a choice in the matter. I can't run away. I can't even leave Kurt's chambers without being escorted by one of his personal guards. Honestly though, I don't know why it would be such a big deal if I disappeared. No one would miss me here. I mean, Kurt would say he would, but Kurt says a lot of things he doesn't mean. I know I'm replaceable. They paid 800,000 oras for me, but I've never felt more worthless._

_It's ironic, really. Remember when the family always said that I was going to be the one to grow up and do amazing things? They said I would get out of Daltonia and change the world. Now I wish I could just go back there and be with you again. Even if it was just for a day. I miss you more than I ever thought possible. I think about you and Dad and Daltonia every single day. It kills me that I won't get to meet your baby. Make sure you tell my little nephew or niece that I love him or her, okay? And when you're free, promise me you'll cherish it. Use your freedom to do something amazing, because I would give anything to have that chance again._

_I know I just unloaded on you, but please don't waste one more minute worrying about me. I can handle myself - I hope. I know you'd tell me to keep my head up and stay strong. So I'm trying, big brother, I really am. But you need to keep your head up, too. Do it for me. Show the world you're worth something while you can._

_I love you and I hope that someday, somehow, we'll be able to see each other again. Until then, you know I'll be looking for the bright side. I hope I find it soon._

_Your Little Brother Forever_

_Blaine_

Blaine felt a tear roll down his cheek as he folded up the letter. He wiped it off with the back of his hand, not wanting to let himself cry anymore.

He stuffed the letter into the envelope next to the stationary and headed to the door of the suite. Knowing the heavy wooden door was locked from the outside while he was in the room, Blaine knocked twice and waited a moment for the guard on duty to answer. To his surprise, Puck answered. Puck was almost never on door duty. He usually was the one to follow Kurt around all day and someone lower ranking was left to make sure Blaine didn't make a break for it.

"Hey Blaine," the mohawked guard said casually, leaning a beefy shoulder against the door frame.

"Oh, uh, hey Puck. You're not with Kurt today?"

He shrugged. "He told me to stay here today. Said you'd need help making a special delivery." Puck winked.

"Um, right. Well, here's the letter. Kurt said to give it to you and you'd make sure it got to Daltonia." Blaine paused and bit his lip nervously before handing over the envelope. "You know this is illegal, right?" he asked. "I don't want you to get in any sort of trouble… you work for the palace guard for god's sake. I doubt they'd go easy on you if you got caught up in trafficking contraband slave letters."

"Relax, munchkin. It's all under control. You're right, I work for the palace guard and, trust me, you don't get to this position without making a few connections."

Blaine gave him a skeptical look.

Puck sighed. "Look, man, your letter will get to your brother. I promise. I know a guy who carries mail from Lima to Daltonia and back and he owes me one. He's leaving today, so it should get there in about a week."

"Okay, if you're sure," Blaine said. He held the envelope out to Puck who took it from him and stuffed it roughly into his black uniform jacket. "Just tell your guy he's on Count Lamore's vineyard. At least, I think he's still there."

"Don't worry about it, Blaine. It'll get to him no matter what. I'll make sure of it. Covert opps is kind of my specialty." Puck leaned in closer to the young slave. "Don't tell anyone this, but before I was a guard, I was kind of known on the streets as a guy who could… get things done, if you know what I mean."

Blaine scrunched his eyebrows at the guard. "Honestly, Puck, I don't think I want to know what you mean."

Puck nodded and straightened back up. "You're right. Probably for the best." He cast cautionary glances over both shoulders as if making sure no one had overheard what he'd just said.

Blaine rolled his eyes.

"Anyways, we gotta get going. I have to take you to Kurt and he should be just starting his lesson right now."

Blaine nodded and swallowed hard. It was time to face Kurt again. He was half hoping that maybe Puck had forgotten Kurt's instructions and would leave him in the room after all. He turned and headed over to his small dresser, happy to change out of the fancy clothes Kurt had put him in the night before.

"Hurry up. I have to drop you off and then get this letter to my guy before he leaves."

Blaine didn't question the guard further. He hurried to change into a loose fitting cotton shirt and pants. He definitely wasn't eager to be turned over to Kurt for the day, but he really wanted to make sure Puck was able to mail that letter.

Blaine walked in silent dread behind Puck as they made their way through the castle. He wasn't paying close attention to where they were going exactly; he didn't really care. The only thoughts that penetrated his mind were about how much he really didn't feel ready to see Kurt. His teeth clenched in a mixture of anxiety and anger. He didn't think he'd ever be able to see Kurt again.

_Don't believe a word he says. Don't believe a word he says_, he repeated as he walked, determined as ever not to fall into the prince's trap again. In the back of his mind he tried to push away the image of the sincere blue eyes he'd seen the night before. No, he couldn't fall in again.

Puck rounded a corner and Blaine followed, surprised to see that they had arrived at the gymnasium. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the scene laid out in front of him.

Two slender fencers dressed head to toe in white were in mid duel in the center of the gigantic room. The taller of the two fighters advanced on the other, jabbing his saber in front of him only to have his blow blocked by his opponent.

"Quicker first step, Kurt!" he heard a voice bellow. Then Blaine's eyes befell the source of the sound: a formidable looking person in the corner. On first glance, Blaine could not tell if this person was a man or a woman, but then he noticed the vibrant red lipstick and decided it must be a woman. She stood still with her arms crossed, looking focused but utterly unimpressed by the match playing out in front of her.

A nasty sounding clash of metal drew Blaine's attention back to the two fencers. The taller one, who was apparently Kurt according to the woman's shout, had just blocked a particularly hard swing from his opponent and stumbled a step backward.

"Don't cross your feet! Correct it! Correct it!" the woman yelled.

Kurt straightened up and advanced once again on the shorter fencer. The sabers crashed and scratched against each other as Kurt drove his opponent farther and farther back.

The blades were moving so fast that Blaine could barely make out their movement. He would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed. He even caught himself staring open mouthed and quickly snapped his jaw shut. Then before, Blaine could even register that anything had happened, the shorter fencer was on the ground, Kurt's saber poking him squarely in chest.

"Touché," the defeated one acknowledged, and Kurt withdrew his blade. Then the prince leaned down and offered him a hand. His opponent took it and Kurt pulled him to his feet.

"Good, Kurt," the woman's voice boomed once more. She started walking toward the fencers. "Way to keep your composure and not back down."

"Thanks, Coach Beiste," Kurt's melodious voice replied from behind his helmet.

"Wow, Kurt," the opponent said, bending to put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. "If you keep going like you have been today I think I'll definitely be putting my money on you to win at the Princes' Tournament this year." He lifted his helmet to reveal a sweaty, shocking mess of long, brown hair that tumbled all the way down his back. "I think I need to take breather."

"Okay, Joe," Kurt said as he too moved to remove his gloves. "Thanks again for training with me. You really are the best fencer in Lima, you know."

Joe chuckled. "I wouldn't be too sure of that anymore," he said, smiling at Kurt. "What's gotten into you today? It's like you've got some major adrenaline to fuel you or something."

Kurt shrugged. "Just a lot of feelings to let out I guess."

Blaine felt a small pang in his chest at this statement, knowing that the feelings Kurt was referring to must have to do with him, but surprised he would be so worked up. He watched as Kurt finally removed his helmet. Blaine was expecting to see a look of triumph on the prince's face, having just beaten the best fencer in Lima and all, but instead he was surprised to see how utterly _sad_ Kurt looked. The prince kept his eyes on the ground as he ran a hand though his sweaty hair. His pale skin was flushed from the duel, but Blaine wasn't sure if that was the reason his eyes looked so red and puffy – like he'd been crying recently.

Blaine jumped when Puck suddenly cleared his throat next to him to announce their presence. Kurt's eyes immediately snapped up at the sound and met Blaine's. Both boys immediately looked away.

"'bout time you got here, Puckerman," Coach Beiste snapped. "I've only got half an hour left and then it's lunch."

"Yeah, well, here he is," Puck answered nonchalantly. "I've gotta get moving. Important business." He smirked ever so slightly at Blaine and turned to leave, presumably to deliver the letter.

"Blaine, is it?" the coach asked, coming closer to him.

"Yes um… ma'am," Blaine replied, hoping he had guessed her gender correctly.

"The name is Beiste," she stated when she stopped directly in front of the boy, towering over him. "Kurt tells me you're in need of some stress relief. Got a lot of pent up rage?"

Blaine couldn't help but glance over at Kurt, who immediately redirected his own stare away from his slave and toward the ground once again. "You could say that," Blaine replied before he looked away from the suddenly shy prince.

"Well what do you say we put it to good use, hmm?"

Blaine raised an eyebrow. He had no idea what Kurt and the coach had in mind.

"I uh, I don't know how to fence," he said quickly, taking a guess.

A smile twitched at the coach's red lips. "Do you know how to punch?"

Fifteen minutes later, Blaine was blinking sweat from his eyes as he landed punch after furious punch on a large bag filled with sawdust. His heart was pumping so hard it was like his chest might explode and his arms felt like they were on fire, but he didn't slow down. He only hit harder.

"Good, Blaine, good!" Beiste encouraged from behind the bag as she held it still for him. "Channel it all into the bag. That's it!"

Blaine didn't hear her, though. Nor did he hear the continued clashing of metal blades behind him as Kurt and Joe resumed their practice. He had completely tuned out the world. The only things he registered were the myriad images that flashed before his eyes as he pounded into the bag. He saw himself kneeling at the side of his mother's bed as the life left her eyes. _Punch._ He saw the debt collector telling his father he'd come to take him and Joel away to sell. _Punch._ He saw Karofsky laughing at him as he dry-heaved by the stream with his hands bound. _Punch._ That stupid toga outfit. _Punch._ Crazy underwear drawer. _Punch_. Kurt's almost naked body standing over him. _Punch._ Dancing with Kurt. _Punch._ His smell. _Punch Punch._ His smile and his voice. _Punch Punch._ His lips. _Punch Punch Punch. _Chandler_. Punch Punch Punch Punch. _

"Woah!" Beiste grunted as she struggled to hold onto the bag behind the force and speed of Blaine's fists. "You _are_ angry, aren't you?"

Blaine could feel that tears had started to fall down his face as he assailed the bag, mixing with his sweat and dripping off to the floor. He didn't try to quell them. This was the best catharsis he'd ever experienced. He finally felt strong. He wished he could keep that feeling forever and just keep punching and never have to go back to what his life had become. Here he was in control again. Here he felt worthwhile again.

He didn't slow down for another five minutes. Only when he felt like he literally could not lift his arms any longer did he stop. Then, practically gasping for breath, an exhausted Blaine melted onto his knees and let his newly bruised hands drop to his sides.

Beiste dropped her grasp on the bag. "How did that feel?" she asked.

"It felt…" Blaine choked out between breaths. "It felt like home."


	11. Ch 11: Trust Me

Chapter 11

Trust Me

Fifteen minutes after he'd regained his breath and pulled his already sore body up off the floor, Blaine emerged from one of the several bathing rooms connected to the large gymnasium. He was clean and fresh, sporting the stylish pants, collared shirt, and fitted vest that Kurt had apparently brought and left for him to change into. Blaine felt remarkably calmer, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He couldn't remember the last time he'd exercised so vigorously or been able to let out so much frustration. In his newly uncluttered mind, everything seemed so much more manageable and less upsetting. He didn't even really mind that he had to wear what Kurt had picked for him. He even begrudgingly allowed himself to feel a little bit touched by the fact that Kurt had included a brand new green bowtie on top of the stack of clothing.

When Blaine turned the corner back into the massive gymnasium, he was surprised to see an anxious looking Kurt pacing back and forth by the exit. The prince had obviously just emerged from a bathing room too as he was dressed impeccably as always with his hair perfectly sculpted. Blaine stopped and stared for a moment and a new wave of nerves came over him. As effective as the boxing catharsis had been, he still couldn't push the embarrassment and heartbreak that was leftover from last night. And what was he supposed to say to the guy he'd just thrown himself at? No, not all was forgiven.

He took a deep breath and willed himself to take the next step toward Kurt.

Kurt's head snapped up when he saw Blaine approaching from the corner of his eye. He stopped pacing and swallowed hard. This was it. He needed Blaine to see he was sorry. He needed him to trust him again.

"H-hi, Blaine," he stammered when the other boy drew close enough.

Blaine nodded curtly in response, not making any eye contact and looking annoyed more than anything else.

Kurt licked his lips. His mouth was suddenly dry. "Um, how was your morning?" He asked the question carefully, trying not to push too hard. He had no idea what kind of feelings were going on behind Blaine's stone façade. "Did you write to your brother?"

Blaine reached up to scratch the back of his head, as was his nervous habit. "Yeah, I uh," he paused and rose his eyes to meet the prince's. His attempt at a hard demeanor crumpled as soon as he met the blue gaze. "I did. Thank you for that, Kurt. I know it could get you and your people involved into trouble."

Kurt's mouth turned into a cautious smile. "Don't worry about it. It's my pleasure. You deserve to be able to talk to your brother. And I've never been one for following rules anyway."

The statement drew a tiny smile out of Blaine that immediately melted the prince's heart. He wished he could have just frozen time and kept that smile on Blaine's face all day, but he knew he had a long way to go before it would be back for good.

"Did you, uh, did you like the boxing?" he asked.

"Yeah it… it helped me a lot," the slave answered, shoving his hands into his pockets, another nervous habit.

"Good. I was hoping it would. Exercise always helps me when I'm… stressed."

Blaine nodded his understanding. A silence ensued. Both boys looked anxiously around the gym, neither of them sure what to say next.

"I have cotillion class next," Kurt suddenly blurted.

Blaine, slightly startled by the abrupt statement, tilted his head in confusion. "Do you want me to go back to your room, then?"

"No!" Kurt practically yelled, startling Blaine further. "Sorry, no," he continued. "I was hoping you would spend the day with me."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "All day?"

Kurt nodded. "Yes. I… I want you to see what I do every day. I want you to know everything. I don't want there to be anymore secrets or anymore confusion between us."

Blaine narrowed his eyes at the prince. "Why? You're under no obligation to let me know anything about you."

Kurt sighed. "Blaine, I know you don't believe me right now, but I did mean what I said last night. I care about you a lot, okay? I don't care what _obligations_ I may or may not be under. I need to earn your trust back."

Blaine's eyes dropped back to the floor at the mention of the previous night. He was honestly hoping that they could just keep up the awkward avoidance of the situation forever. "You don't have to do that," he said, eyes still cast down. "You don't have to be so nice to me, Kurt. I'm here to do whatever you want. It's fine. I'll do it. You don't need to do all this stuff for me."

"Stop it," the prince said, his voice much more harsh than before. "Don't you understand, Blaine? Don't you get it? I want to do these things for you. I _need_ to do these things for you." Kurt took a step toward the shorter boy. "Look at me," he demanded. This was the first demand he'd made since the day Blaine arrived.

The slave's eyes snapped up.

"I didn't want you to be brought here. I didn't want you to be ripped away from your home and your family. And I don't want you to ever feel like you're being forced into anything ever again. I'm not trying to gain your trust just to have sex with you, Blaine. I know I could make you, but I already told you I would never do that. It's more than that for me. I'm trying to be genuine. I'm trying to show you that I care."

Blaine was silent, processing what Kurt had to say. Almost a full minute passed before he spoke. "But _why_? Why _me_?" Frustration and confusion seeped through into Blaine's voice. "Why do you care so much about me, Kurt? How can you say you care this much about me but you didn't even care this much about Chandler? You said you thought you were in love with him…"

"Blaine," Kurt stated, cutting him off. "I… I like you, okay? I genuinely, really _like_ you. I know it didn't come off this way last night but to me, you are way more than just some random guy at a pub or a ball. You're smart and sweet and so honest. I admire you so much for how strong you've been and I… I just want to be able to make you happy."

Blaine's defensive demeanor immediately fizzled. He stood frozen, ogling the prince in open, wide-eyed shock. That was not a declaration he was expecting to hear. "You…" He gulped. "_You_ really like _me_?"

Kurt let out a sigh before he continued. "Yes, I really do."

Blaine continued to stare in wonderment. Kurt genuinely liked him? Kurt admired him? Blaine knew Kurt thought he was good-looking, but actually allowing himself to believe that Kurt thought those other things; that was a challenge. He'd almost fallen for it last night, what was to say he wouldn't be let down again?

"And as far as Chandler and all those guys go," Kurt continued as if reading Blaine's flustered mind, "you should remember what I said to you the first time we met. I told you to forget everything you thought you knew about me and cut me some slack. I know I've made a lot of mistakes, but I'm not the person I used to be. That Kurt, the one Chandler was talking about last night, was confused and angry and lonely." Kurt paused. He crossed his arms across his chest and started his pacing pattern from earlier before he began speaking again.

"When I was fifteen, my dad started courting Carol and I felt like he'd forgotten about me. He spent all his time with her and he barely even spoke two words to me anymore. It really tore me up a lot because he was all I had after Mom died. He was my only family, the only person who I thought _really_ loved me and I felt like he was abandoning me. Then he _married_ her and _Finn_ became part of the family. He was like the son my dad never had… Anyway, it was really hard for me.

"Long story short, I went looking for love in all the wrong places because I thought it was filling the void, but it wasn't. Chandler was the last one before I realized that. My dad was waiting in my room the morning I got back from Chandler's. He told me I needed to stop throwing myself around. He said I mattered too much to him and seeing me do that was breaking his heart. That's also when he suggested getting me a slave to calm me down…

"But then I knew he still cared. Then I knew I wasn't as alone as I thought. And I promised myself that the next time I have sex, it'll be different. I will be in love for real and I'll be happy and complete and I'll never have to regret it." Kurt stopped pacing and faced Blaine once again. "And I've never told anyone that before now."

Blaine realized he was still staring at the prince, his mouth slightly agape. Of all the things he imagined Kurt saying to him that day, he never expected him to unload all of that on him. By the end of his speech, Blaine couldn't have doubted that Kurt was being completely honest if he wanted to. The sincerity was palpable in the intensity of his tone, in the transparency of his expressions. Kurt was making himself an open book to Blaine. Telling him things he'd never told anyone - he was making himself vulnerable. He just as vulnerable, if not more so, than Blaine had been on the closet floor last night.

Blaine took a moment before answering, feeling unable to process all of the things that were going through his head. Finally, the most pressing matter at the front of his mind blurted its way out of his mouth. "So you're _really_ not just trying to have sex with me?"

Kurt was shocked for a second, but then his small smile returned, pleased he was finally getting through to Blaine even though it took revealing a side of him he really wished he didn't need to expose. "No, Blaine, I'm not. I just want to get to know you better and I'm _dying_ for you to get to know me. The new me. The real me." He paused, letting the idea finally solidify in Blaine's head before continuing. "I would be lying, though, if I said I never think about it." Kurt bit his lip and his cheeks flushed a deep pink.

Blaine's flushed even deeper. "Uh, wow you are being honest today."

The prince shrugged, now assuming an innocent expression. "Full disclosure is my new policy. From here on out nothing about me is off limits to you. Ask me anything. No more secrets, no more surprises. I promise."

The shorter boy nodded, a smile now pulling at his lips. "I have a feeling you'll never stop surprising me, Kurt."

Kurt smirked at the remark. "Yeah, you're probably right." Then he glanced over to the door that led into the hallway. "Speaking of which, Mike is waiting in the hall to escort us to cotillion." He turned back to Blaine, suddenly sporting a mischievous expression. "I hate cotillion. It is seriously the most boring thing in the world and I don't want to subject you to that. What if I told you I have a better idea of a way to spend our day?" Kurt nodded his head subtly toward the other exit of the gymnasium: the one that led outside.

Intrigued, Blaine raised an eyebrow, connecting the dots in his head. Leaving through that door would mean Mike wouldn't see them. They could sneak away and go wherever. He briefly wondered how often Kurt snuck away from his guards and if it was really safe, but ultimately his curiosity got the better of him. What did Kurt do when no one was controlling his schedule?

"What did you have in mind?" Blaine asked.

Kurt's smirk grew and he too raised an eyebrow. "You'll have to _trust_ me." The prince held out his hand.

Blaine stared at the outstretched hand for a moment, trying to weigh his options and the implications of sneaking off with Kurt. Was the trouble they would definitely get into worth it?

In the end, Blaine figured what the hell? If Kurt really was trying to gain his trust back, then he wouldn't knowingly put him in any danger. He thought that this might really be the way to test it: go in to Kurt's class-ditching scheme totally blind and see what comes of it.

"Alright, _Your Highness_," Blaine said, taking the prince's hand. "Impress me."

A mischievous spark flashed across Kurt's eyes. Then the prince closed his hand tightly around Blaine's and pulled him across the gym toward the exit.

**Just a short one today, but it's still progress! My mind is about 8 and half months pregnant with Chapter 12… so just another painful labor away from another update.**

**Drop some questions in the reviews y'all. This AU is admittedly pretty strange. The story MUST have gaps I'm missing… I feel like **_**someone**_** must be curious/confused/intrigued about something going on here. I know I'm not a good enough writer to have answered everything you're wondering.**

**Many, many and thanks as always! **

** Stay gold**


	12. Ch 12: Exposed

Chapter 12

Exposed

The two boys sprinted, hand in hand, out the gymnasium door and through the sunlit courtyard. Blaine found himself smiling wildly as his heart pounded from the thrill of it all. He'd never been much of a rule-breaker, so this blatant defiance of Kurt's set schedule was new and enthralling. He gripped the prince's hand tighter as they charged forward toward the front gate.

Suddenly, Kurt veered them sharply to the right and they ducked behind a decorative shrub.

"We'll have to sneak past when they let that delivery in," Kurt explained, nodding slightly to the carriage waiting outside the metal gate. "When it comes in, we'll go out on the other side so the guard doesn't spot us."

Blaine chuckled and shook his head. "You've done this a few times before, I take it?"

Kurt smiled innocently. "Once or twice." The prince turned his head back to the gate to watch for their chance.

Blaine's heart was still pounding in a mix of nerves and excitement. "So you're sure this is safe? To go out without guards?" he asked, trying not to let himself second-guess the appeal of the spontaneity. He really wasn't worried about himself so much as Kurt. The crowned prince would certainly be a desirable target for terrorists or ransom.

"It'll be fine, Blaine. I know this city like the back of my hand and we can handle ourselves."

Blaine narrowed his eyes skeptically.

"Relax, will you!" Kurt implored. "I want you to have fun today. Don't worry so much and just let me impress you!" Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand in reassurance.

Blaine couldn't stop the butterflies that flooded his stomach at the gesture.

A few seconds later, the metal gate began to swing open.

"Let's go!" Kurt whispered, pulling Blaine from behind the shrub. The boys moved quickly and stealthily toward the opening. They ducked slightly as they squeezed between the carriage and the stone palace wall, making sure they weren't seen. As soon as they were on the opposite side, they broke into a run once again.

Five blocks later, they finally slowed down. Kurt finally dropped his hold on Blaine's hand in order to bend over and catch his breath. "And that's how it's done," he said between long breaths.

Blaine smiled between his own ragged breathing. "Very stealthy. I must say, I feel pretty impressed already."

Kurt straightened up and assumed his mischievous smirk once again. "Oh, we're only getting started."

They continued walking down the bustling city street. It was just as crowded and noisy as it had been the day Blaine arrived, but he had to admit that Lima was already a lot more enjoyable now that he was not tied to a horse with a big sweaty man pressed up behind him.

They turned a corner and Blaine's nostrils were immediately struck with a heavenly smell. He couldn't help but stop short and take in a deep breath of the sweet, decadent aroma. "Mmmm," he hummed as he closed his eyes and took in the smell. "What is that?" he asked Kurt.

The prince eyed the shorter boy in amusement, a smile growing on his face. "That's the Crepe Shop," he answered. Then he pointed to a cozy-looking café nestled under a blue awning on the corner of the block. "Have you ever tried crepes before?"

Blaine shook his head 'no,' staring at the busy café with intensifying interest. "They smell incredible."

"Well, are you hungry?" Kurt asked. "We could stop in and get some if you

want. I can't even remember the last time I had a crepe. They don't really fit into my diet."

A hopeful glint sparked in Blaine's eye. "Really? We can go in?"

Kurt's amused smile widened at Blaine's eagerness. "We can do whatever we want. That's the point of skipping class and ditching the guard detail."

Blaine chuckled. "Right."

"Come on!" Kurt chimed enthusiastically. "Let's go. I haven't been to this place in years."

The boys entered the little café and looked around for a table, but all of them were taken.

"Your Highness!" a startled male voice said from behind them.

The boys turned to find a shocked looking waiter staring at them wide-eyed from behind his tray.

"We… we didn't know you were coming in today! I'm so sorry we don't have a table… Let me set one up for you! It'll just take a second!" He turned around in a frenzy, completely abandoning his task of delivering the tray of food.

"No that's okay, we can…" Kurt started to say, but he was gone before he could finish. "…wait." He shook his head in a mix of embarrassment and amusement.

Within a matter of seconds, several staff members were rushing around the establishment setting up an extra table and chairs right in front of the front window. By the time they had finished, Blaine couldn't help but notice that their table was set with much a much finer, fancier tablecloth and cutlery than the rest. The staff had even placed a pair of uncharacteristic candlesticks in the center.

"Right this way, Your Highness," the waiter said when he approached them again. He bowed slightly to Kurt before turning to lead them to the table.

As the boys took their seats, Blaine noted the way the waiter was staring at Kurt. A sudden, unexpected twinge of possessiveness plucked inside of him when he saw the waiter's eyes glance over Kurt's backside as he sat. He immediately felt himself blush, unsure of where that urge came from.

"Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Tea?" the waiter asked.

"I'll have a coffee with vanilla and milk," Kurt stated confidently.

"Sure thing," the waiter responded with what Blaine swore was as a flirty wink. "And for you?" he asked, turning to Blaine and sounding considerably more bored.

"I… um… I…" Blaine's mind suddenly entered panic mode when he realized he'd never actually placed an order at a restaurant before. He'd only been to one in a neighboring town in Daltonia once when he was very young to celebrate his great-grandmother's birthday, and his mother had ordered for him and Joel. Blaine's panicked eyes darted to Kurt.

The prince seemed to get the message and he immediately spoke up. "He'll have a regular coffee, black. And we'll split an order of your classic crepes with strawberry."

The waiter scribbled down the order and turned to go, giving Kurt a coy smile and Blaine an annoyed, dismissive eye roll.

"Thanks," Blaine said to Kurt, the color rising in his cheeks.

The prince laughed lightly. "You really are from the middle of nowhere, aren't you?" he teased.

"Don't make fun of me," Blaine groaned.

Kurt's smile just grew wider. "Blaine of Daltonia, it looks like I have a whole lot of firsts to start crossing off your list."

Blaine's eyes widened at the comment.

Kurt gasped and his hand immediately flew to his mouth. "No, not like that! I just meant, you know, like city things and stuff… Oh god…"

Blaine chuckled. "Kurt, it's fine! I know what you meant."

Kurt just shook his head in further embarrassment.

"And if anyone is going to help me cross off city-life firsts, I'm glad it's you. I mean, how else would a farm boy like me I get to sit at a table like this?" Blaine gestured to the extravagant tablecloth and tall candlesticks on their café table.

Kurt laughed at the admittedly outlandish table setting. "Yeah, people sort if tend to overdo things when it comes to my family and me." The prince sighed. "Sometimes it's nice but most of the time, I kind of wish no one would recognize me. It's just that, when you're royalty, everyone's eyes are always on you. I wish I could just go places and not have everybody staring at me like they're seeing some rare natural phenomenon or something."

Blaine nodded as Kurt spoke, empathizing with how difficult it would be to always live in the public eye. Even as he glanced around the café, he could see how everyone's gazes fluttered over to their table. He could feel their eyes on him too; in much the same way he'd felt them at the pub. These people must have been wondering what he, a big nobody, was doing eating alone with the crowned prince in the middle of the day. It was quickly becoming quite obvious to Blaine how Kurt had built up such a reputation in his past. Every little thing the prince did was under scrutiny, a scrutiny that Blaine felt himself quickly becoming a part of. He wondered if any of the people watching them recognized him as the glittery virgin gift from Kurt's lavish birthday a few weeks ago.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Blaine pulled his sleeve down farther over his metal cuff.

The boys chatted easily for the rest of their time in the café, mostly discussing favorite pastimes as children. Their coffee and crepes were served quickly (Blaine suspected a lot more quickly than the average patrons') and Blaine loved every bite of the sweet, delectable pastries. Kurt found Blaine's enthusiasm for the food quite endearing and caught himself twice staring idly at the way his slave's square jaw clenched and moved as he chewed.

Kurt paid the waiter, whose flirting had become bolder as the meal went on, directly increasing Blaine's annoyance with him. As much as Blaine had enjoyed the food, he found himself feeling glad when he and Kurt left the small café because it meant they could get away from him and his stupid winking.

The two started walking again. Blaine's head was on a constant swivel, trying to take in as much of his bustling city surroundings as possible.

"Where are we going next?" he asked when they turned a corner onto a less populated side street.

"To one of my favorite places in the whole kingdom. I'm pretty sure you'll love it," Kurt replied. The prince quickened his pace in apparent eagerness and Blaine had to practically jog to keep up with Kurt's longer strides.

"We'll have to cut though the park to get there," Kurt explained when they approached a huge grove of grass and trees that seemed to have sprung up from nowhere amongst the endless pavement.

Blaine felt his heart jump into his throat at the sight. An immediate sense of joy came over him when he breathed in the aroma of fresh grass and heard the rustle of leaves in a breeze– sensations he never thought he'd ever encounter again.

"This is more like it," he said with a smile.

Kurt grinned at his reaction. "Open spaces more your style?"

Blaine nodded. "Reminds me of home."

"I'd like to see your home someday," Kurt stated.

Blaine stopped in his tracks. "Really?" he asked disbelievingly. He could not fathom why Kurt, the highly cultured, well-travelled prince would ever have any kind of interest in seeing a modest little dairy farm in 'the middle of nowhere.'

"Yeah," Kurt replied, starting their walk again. "You talk about it so fondly. It obviously means a lot to you. I'd love to see where you grew up - what's special to you."

Blaine raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Kurt asked, still grinning. "I'm showing you where I'm from," he gestured toward their city surroundings, "Maybe one day you can return the favor."

Blaine gave a half smile in response, suddenly a bit saddened by the prospect of visiting home. He knew it wasn't really realistic, not while he was a slave, which would presumably be for the rest of his life. He didn't want to kill the mood though, so he asked, "Do you travel to Daltonia a lot?"

"Not often, no. The last time I was there was when I was fourteen."

"Oh, I remember that!" Blaine said, recalling the non-stop publicity that surrounded the royals' last visit to the capital of Daltonia, which was about a day's walk from Blaine's home village of Anderson. "I was thirteen and I begged my mom to let me skip school to go see your dad speak, even though it would have meant a whole day's walk there and back. She said no though. She never let me skip school for anything."

Kurt shoved his hands into his pockets, looking suddenly troubled. "And look at you now. I bet your mom would hate me for making you ditch with me today." He stared at his shoes as he walked. "I bet if she heard anything about me, she wouldn't have even have wanted you spending time with me at all."

Blaine thought for a moment before answering. "You're probably right," he said.

Kurt closed his eyes as if hurt by the confirmation.

"If she only _heard_ about you, then yes, she wouldn't want me with you. But if she had actually met you, Kurt, I think she would have really liked you."

The prince eyes, wide and blue, darted back to Blaine's face. "Really?"

Blaine melted slightly, like always, under the eager blue gaze. "Really. You said it yourself. You're not what people hear about you, you are what you're trying to be. I mean, yeah, she wouldn't have liked the school skipping, but she would love how strong-willed and passionate you are. You don't tolerate what you don't think is right. That's admirable. You actually remind me of her in that way."

Kurt stared at the shorter boy in disbelief. Coming form Blaine, he knew that that was one of the nicest things anyone had ever told him. "Thank you," he said softly, finding it hard to form words with the amount of emotion building up inside him at Blaine's statement. "I… I can't believe you think that. After last night and everything… you still see all that in _me_?" he added breathlessly.

Blaine smirked. "Of course I do," he said. Then he turned his head forward again as they moved down the tree-lined path. "I know you're not perfect, Kurt. But I can see the good in you."

Kurt just shook his head in apparent shock. "You're incredible," he said before he thought better of it. "You really can find the good in everything, can't you?"

Blaine blushed lightly. "My brother used to call me Mr. Brightside," he admitted. "Yeah, I do try to seek out the good in any situation. I've kind of had to learn to do that in my life the past year or so. I guess you could call it a coping mechanism."

Kurt nodded, still utterly floored by the fact that Blaine wasn't still completely repulsed by him, and still utterly floored by how much his slave continued to surprise him. Maybe he had more of a hope of regaining his trust than he thought.

"Well, it means a lot that you're even willing to look for a bright side with me," said Kurt.

Blaine rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Yeah, that's why you'd better just keep on impressing me."

"Oh, I intend to."

The boys laughed as the continued through the park. Another thirty minutes of walking found them winding through some back streets filled with more rundown looking apartments and tiny, obscure shops. Kurt finally stopped in front of an unassuming little establishment with a guitar displayed in the dirty window.

"Here we are!" he exclaimed happily.

Blaine's eyes trailed over the utterly unimpressive little store. "This is one of your favorite places in the whole kingdom?" he said unbelievingly. He knew that Kurt travelled to almost every part of the kingdom and beyond and seen more beautiful and interesting things than he could even imagine, so the fact that he had brought him to this little ramshackle shop seemed a bit anticlimactic.

"Yep, sure is," Kurt said, reaching out to open the door. "After you, good sir." The prince bowed his head slightly to Blaine and motioned him inside.

Before walking in, Blaine took a moment to realize the absurdity of the fact that the crowned prince of Lima was opening a door for _him_, a mere farm boy and his slave. He let out a small chuckle at the irony of the gesture and passed through the open door.

The shop was just as cramped and unkempt on the inside as it was on the outside. At first glance, Blaine didn't notice anything but the clutter of boxes and what had to be thousands of loose sheets of paper. But when he peered closer at one of the papers, realization finally dawned on him.

"Sheet music," he stated. He turned to Kurt who had entered the crammed room behind him. "This is a music store?"

"Yep," the prince replied, beaming. "This front room is all sheet music. You have to dig a little, but they have anything you could possibly want," he said gesturing to the hodgepodge of crates and paper. "And of you go through this doorway," he continued as he moved toward a narrow opening in the back of the room, "you get to the really good stuff."

Totally intrigued, Blaine followed Kurt through the doorway and let out an audible gasp at what he saw on the other side. The back room was just as cluttered as the front, but this one was absolutely filled to the brim of every kind of musical instrument Blaine could ever fathom. A harp, drum, double bass, cello, and an assortment of horns were placed against the walls of the room on the floor, and the walls were practically completely concealed behind shelves and shelves displaying violins, trumpets, woodwinds, and, much to Blaine's delight, guitars.

"The owner, Madame Thibodeau, makes all of the instruments right here on site," Kurt began to explain. "She started out right here in this really tiny shop just selling whatever she could to whomever she could and then word got around about her talent and now her instruments are the most sought after in the kingdom. Now you can only get one of her pieces by custom order."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. He could tell by looking at the beautifully crafted instruments that they were high quality, but he didn't understand why someone who was supposedly so successful would willingly stay in such a cramped space far away from Lima's main drag of quality shops.

Sensing this confusion, Kurt continued. "Madame Thibodeau is very adamant about staying at this location. She could definitely afford to move to a bigger space, buts he just doesn't want to."

"Right you are, Kurt," a raspy female voice said from another doorway into the room.

Blaine's head whipped over to see a middle-aged woman with eye glasses and a colorful headscarf leaning against one of the only open sections of wall, smirking.

"I don't care how much more room moving would get me, my heart's here in this shop. I couldn't create this stuff anywhere else," she continued.

"Madame Thibodeau!" Kurt exclaimed, flashing a dazzling smile at the woman. "It's so good to see you again!"

The woman returned the grin. "You too, Kurt. So glad you could stop in today. And who is this you have with you? I don't think you've ever brought company to my shop before." Madame Thibodeau shot Kurt a knowing glance before she approached Blaine, extending a hand.

"Madame Thibodeau, this is my… um, this is Blaine," Kurt said as Blaine accepted the her handshake.

"Pleased to meet you, Madame," he said as politely as possible, trying his best to ignore the creeping embarrassment he felt at Kurt's awkward falter over what to call him.

"You too, Blaine," she replied. "Any friend of Kurt's is a friend of mine. And may I say, I'm so glad to finally see him finally come in here _with_ someone." She threw one more not-so-subtle, approving look at Kurt.

Blaine wasn't sure what Madame Thibodeau meant by that comment, but the slight blush breaking out on Kurt's cheeks did not escape his notice.

"What brings you boys in today? More sheet music to sing?"

"Actually," Kurt replied, "Blaine here is somewhat of a guitar aficionado. I was hoping you might let him have a closer look at one of your guitars?"

Blaine's mouth fell open at the request. It was too much. He was just a slave. A nobody. He didn't have any earthly business even looking at these artfully crafted, probably unbelievably expensive guitars let alone getting a _closer_ look. "What?" he blurted. "No, no. That's not necessary, Madame. I couldn't."

But Madame Thibodeau was already crossing the room toward a particularly beautiful walnut guitar hanging from a display hook. "Nonsense!" she said. "I could never deny a fellow_ aficionado_."

"I'm hardly an aficionado, Madame. I just used to play, that's all. I'm not even very good and I haven't touched a guitar in months," he rambled as he watched the woman take the instrument down and turn back toward him with it.

"Blaine," Madame Thibodeau said, cutting him off. "Do you enjoy playing music?"

He gulped, letting his eyes fall to the guitar and get lost in the wonderfully gorgeous brown swirling of the wood. "Yes," he replied. "More than almost anything."

Madame Thibodeau smiled. "Enjoy, then." She held the guitar out to Blaine.

Blaine took the guitar gingerly into his hands, feeling the need for a sort of reverence. This instrument was by far the most expensive item he'd ever touched in his life. For a moment he just reveled in the feeling of the weight of it in his hands and the softness of the polished wood.

If he had been able to concentrate on anything else in that moment, Blaine might have looked up to see Kurt beaming widely at his bemusement.

After a few more moments of simply gazing at the beauty in his hands, Blaine finally dared to slip the leather shoulder strap over him and place his fingers on the new, taught strings. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. The first image that came to his mind was his mother. She was smiling lightly at him, one black curl tumbling down in front of her face.

Blaine's fingers immediately started moving over the strings as if of their own accord. Before he really even knew what he was doing, the tiny music shop was filled with the soft melody that his mother had sung to him every night of his childhood. He kept his eyes closed as he played, trying to savor the moment as long as possible and letting himself get lost in the feeling of the strings against his fingers that he had missed so desperately.

Blaine played for while longer, letting the familiar melody flow freely from his memory. Kurt watched him as he did, feeling moved almost to tears by the boy's obvious passion. Even though the other boy wasn't smiling, Kurt knew that this was the happiest Blaine had been since he'd gotten to Lima.

When the last note of the song dissipated into the air of the shop, Blaine opened his eyes, feeling suddenly more peaceful than he could remember feeling in a long, long time. He glanced over to Kurt to see that he was whispering discreetly to Madame Thibodeau.

The two stopped, however, once they saw him looking at them.

"That was beautiful, Blaine," Kurt commented.

"Thank you," Blaine said softly. "It's the lullaby my mom used to sing to me. It's my favorite song in the world."

"A lullaby? Does it have words?" Kurt asked.

"Yes, but…" Blaine hesitated. Yes, the song did have words, but he didn't feel like he'd be able to sing them if Kurt asked. This song was so special to him – it was part of his happiest memories and he associated it with feeling safe and sure. There was too much uncertainty and confusion surrounding his life right now to be able to sing the words to that song. He knew he'd only be able to do it when he felt completely whole and safe again. "I don't remember them," he lied.

Kurt frowned. "Shame. You played it so well."

"Yes, very well," Madame Thibodeau chimed in. "I do not give compliments easily but I must say that you are very talented, young man."

Blaine smiled at the woman. "Thank you. That's kind of you to say. Thank you for letting me play," he said as he removed the guitar from over his shoulder and handed it back to her. "It really is an amazing guitar."

She nodded politely at the compliment and placed the guitar back on its hook.

Then the front door of the shop opened and everyone turned to see a slightly frantic looking Mike enter. The guard let out an immediate sight of relief when he spotted Kurt and Blaine. "There you are!" he chided, crossing the front toward them. "God damn it, Kurt! How many times am I going to have come chasing after you like this? Do you have any idea how much trouble I would have been in if anything happened to you? I guess I should thank my lucky stars you always end up going to the same place when you sneak away…"

"Mike, Mike! Clam down!" Kurt said, placing a reassuring hand on the frazzled guard's shoulder. "We're fine. I'm not as breakable as you and my father seem to think I am. I just wanted to show Blaine around the city without the whole royal escort making us stick out like sore thumbs."

Mike rolled his eyes. "Well, I hope you're finished because I'm taking you both back to the palace right now before you get me fired."

Kurt raised his hands in mock surrender. "Fine, fine. We'll go in peace."

"It's been a pleasure as always, Madame, " Kurt said, bowing slightly toward the woman.

She nodded her head in acknowledgement. "Yes I'm sure I'll talk to you again soon, Kurt," she replied, once again assuming that knowing smile. Then she turned to Blaine. "Pleasure to have met you, Blaine. I hope I can hear you play again sometime."

"The pleasure was all mine, Madame," he said, also bending into a polite bow.

Mike tried barking a lecture about responsibility to Kurt as they walked back toward the towering palace, but Kurt just kept making mocking faces behind his guard's back to Blaine, who was having a hard time holding back his laughter.

When they got back to Kurt's room the boys realized it was much later than they'd realized and the sun had already set. Blaine quickly jumped to work lighting the lamps and Kurt wondered over to his bed. The prince frowned down at the thrashed mess of sheets. Clearly Blaine had not had an easy sleep after last night's ordeal.

Noticing the prince's expression, Blaine immediately spoke up. "I'm sorry I didn't get around to making the bed this morning," he said. "I got sidetracked with the letter and all."

"No, Blaine, don't worry about it," Kurt said, shaking his head. "I could care less about the bed. How are you? Did you enjoy yourself today?"

"Yeah, yeah I really did. Except my hands are still a little sore from the boxing," he replied, flexing his aching fingers. "Thank you so much for everything today, Kurt. The letter, the boxing, the crepes and the afternoon in the city… it was really incredible of you."

"Don't mention it. Like I said, I… I just really want to be able to make you happy here. I hope today was a step in the right direction."

A smile pulled at the corner of Blaine's mouth. "Today was amazing. Your Highness has definitely impressed me."

Kurt laughed. "Good. I'm glad."

Blaine bit his lip, nervous to ask the question that had been picking at his mind since they left the music shop. "Can I – can I ask you something?"

Kurt's eyes widened with intrigue and surprise. "Of course you can. I told you this morning, full disclosure, remember?"

"Right," Blaine said, looking down at his shoes nervously. "What did Madame Thibodeau mean when she said she was glad to see you finally go to the shop _with_ someone?"

Kurt paused at the question. He'd honestly sort of hoped Blaine had missed that little comment. "She just meant…" he began, still thinking of the best way to answer, "It's just that, I've only ever gone there by myself before. That place has kind of become like a sanctuary for me over the years. Especially when I stared to feel my dad slipping away. I could always sneak away to Madame Thibodeau's and sing my heart out until I felt better. It was kind of an unspoken arrangement between her and me. I always told her I never wanted to bring anybody else there with me because I didn't want them to see me as exposed as I felt when I was singing there. It was just kind of my little secret that I could keep away from the rest of the world. It was the only place no one else could judge me, you know?"

Blaine nodded, feeling surprised yet again by how much the prince was pouring out to him.

"So I guess today she was happy to see that I felt comfortable enough with someone to bring them to my special place."

Blaine exhaled a long breath he didn't realize he was holding. "You've never brought anyone else there before? Not even Mercedes?"

Kurt shook his head. "Only Mike and Puck know I go there and that's because it's where they always find me when I sneak off."

Blaine was speechless for a moment. Kurt had trusted him twice today with things he'd never shared with anyone. He was being more sincere and honest with Blaine than he'd ever been before. It was suddenly alarmingly evident to the slave that his master really must care about him as much as he said. Kurt really was breaking himself down for Blaine; opening himself and leaving nothing a mystery anymore. The enigma that was Prince Kurtis Ignatius Elizabeth Hubert Hummel was dead and gone for Blaine. The man that stood before him now was just Kurt. Just normal, vulnerable, beautiful Kurt.

"Wow," he uttered, still trying to comprehend the full weight of the situation. "That's just… Thank you for trusting me like that. Thanks for letting me in."

Kurt smiled shyly. "You're welcome," he said. "I hope you know how much I want you to be able to trust me, too. I know you're still wary of me, but I'm trying…"

"I know, Kurt," the shorter boy said, cutting him off. "And I appreciate that more than you know. I want to trust you too."

Kurt's smile grew more confident at that. "Good. That's so good to hear."

The two stood in comfortable silence for a moment before Kurt spoke again.

"Can I ask you something now?"

"Sure," Blaine said, slightly nervous.

"What's that pendant you were wearing last night?"

"Oh, it's um… It belonged to my mother." Blaine's hand immediately flew to his chest, protectively covering the golden charm under his shirt.

"Can I… Do you think I could see it?" Kurt asked, hoping it wasn't too bold a question.

Blaine gulped. "Yeah, um, okay." He started undoing his new green bowtie and unbuttoning his collar. A few seconds later he had the pendant fished out from under his shirt and held it in his hand.

Kurt approached him and gingerly picked up the small, glinting medallion from Blaine's palm. Turning it over in his own hand, he saw that one side was adorned with an impression of an elm tree and the other with a date, June 12.

Reading the questioning look on Kurt's face as he studied the pendant, Blaine spoke up. "The elm tree is the Daltonian symbol for home and June twelfth is my parents' anniversary."

"It's beautiful, Blaine," Kurt said, still turning it over in his hand. "How did you manage to hold on to it for so long? Through the slave auction and all?"

"I just made sure I was really careful about keeping it hidden. It was difficult at times, but I was pretty damned determined to keep it. It was my mother's favorite possession."

Kurt released his hold on the gold circle so it fell gently back to Blaine's chest. "Well, I'm glad you were able to keep it. I bet your mom would be really happy that you have it."

Blaine smiled. "Me too. I like to think so. You know, Kurt, one of the things that honestly scared me most about coming here was that I thought you would take it away from me."

Kurt's expression morphed as though Blaine had insulted him. "I would never take anything away from you, Blaine."

"I see that now," Blaine said, gazing up into that blue warmth again.

Kurt matched his stare for a moment longer, and a silence came over them once again. Neither boy moved, each one unsure of the other's intention.

Finally, Kurt thought it best to break the silence. The last thing he wanted to do now was send Blaine too strong of signals too fast.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm pretty exhausted," he said, stretching his arms over his head dramatically. "I think I'll just turn in for the night." He started moving over toward the couch where he'd slept the previous night.

It took Blaine a second to blink himself out of the sort of trance he'd fallen into looking at Kurt. "Oh. Yeah, okay. I'm pretty tired too," he said. His eyes followed Kurt's lithe form over to the couch and he felt his cheeks heat up as the prince began removing his shirt. "Um, Kurt?"

The taller boy, now half undressed, looked over at his slave.

"You don't have to sleep on the couch again. I mean, I don't mind if you come back to the bed… if you want." Blaine bit his lip, feeling embarrassed by the fact that, in some roundabout way, he'd just invited Kurt to sleep next to him again. He would be lying if he said he hadn't missed the warmth and familiar sense of security that came with sharing the bed with Kurt.

The prince's blue eyes widened in surprise. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I mean, yeah. It is _your_ bed after all." He tried to sound nonchalant.

A soft smile came over Kurt's face. He walked back over to Blaine and stopped in front of him. Then, completely to the shorter boy's surprise, Kurt pulled him into a tight embrace. After the initial shock, Blaine relaxed enough to be able to wrap his arms around the prince in response. Blaine was sure Kurt must have been able to feel how hard his heart was beating against his naked chest. After anther second, Kurt pulled away from the hug.

"What was that for?" Blaine asked, his heart still fluttering from the unexpected contact.

"You are so unbelievable, Blaine. You seriously must have the biggest heart of any human on the planet to be so kind to me."

Blaine just shrugged. "You must have been around some pretty small-hearted people before," he answered.

Kurt threw Blaine one more happy smile before the curly haired boy disappeared into the bathroom to change. The he pulled his pants off, leaving him in his normal sleep attire of just underwear, and slipped under the covers of the bed.

Blaine emerged from the bathroom in his sleep shirt and pants a few minutes later. He extinguished the lamps he had lit and then lay down next to the tired-looking prince.

He was lying with his back to Kurt, as per usual, reveling in the extra warmth and waiting for sleep to overtake him when suddenly, he heard Kurt speak.

"I'm glad you showed me your mother's pendant. It really is beautiful."

"Yeah, it really is," Blaine agreed sleepily. "Just like she was."

There was another minute of silence before Kurt spoke up again. "You really think she would have liked me?"

"Mmhmm."

"Blaine?"

"Yeah?"

"I think my mom would have really liked you, too."

Blaine felt Kurt shift his position in the large bed. He turned his head around to see that the prince was now lying much closer to him than usual.

"You're honest and compassionate like she was," Kurt added.

"Thank you, Kurt. That means a lot," he whispered.

"I'm so sorry I ever hurt you," Kurt whispered back.

"Stop apologizing. You're already forgiven."

Several more minutes of silence passed and Blaine was fairly certain Kurt had fallen asleep. He was dangling close to the edge of sleep himself when he heard the prince make one last utterance.

"I won't let you down again," he heard the prince whisper into the darkness.

Then he fell into a warm, dreamless sleep.

**Note: In case you're wondering, the melody Blaine plays is the acoustic version of "Hysteric" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.**

**I hope you all adored this chapter as much as I adored writing it. It was pretty neat to write because it is very loosely based off of Boyfriend's and my first date. Because, you know, **_**obviously**_** Boyfriend is a prince :P**

**So, is everybody still enjoying? Let me know! I crave your questions/comments!**

**As always, stay gold.**

**P.S. But really, we got crepes ;)**


	13. Ch 13: I Want to Do More

**Chapter 13**

**I Want To Do More**

Mercedes yawned as she entered the palace's main kitchen. A warm hum from the stove and wood-burning oven filled the enormous room as the smell of cooking eggs and bacon dissipated into the air. Although the stylist normally enjoyed the homey atmosphere of the kitchen, the fact that the sun hadn't even risen yet was putting a damper on her mood to say the least. She tuned out the cheerful banter of the cooks and the clanging of utensils as she made a mental promise to herself to never agree to meet Kurt at such an ungodly hour of the morning again. Walking right past the baskets of bread, fruit, and pastries that were set out for staff members every morning, she made a beeline for the small wooden table in the corner where Kurt sat waiting.

The prince sat with his hands in his lap and his knee bounced up and down anxiously. His eyebrows were furrowed, as if he was worrying heavily about something or as if her were waiting for vital news. In any case, it was clear from his disheveled hair that he had already been awake for some time, as he's had time to run his hands through it in his typical anxious habit. However, as his good manners dictated, Kurt stood as soon he saw her approaching. "Mercedes! Thank you so much for coming! I'm sorry it had to be so early, but this needed to be private and…"

"Kurt," she interjected, silencing the way-too-perky for this hour prince. "If you're going to chatter at me like some sort of incessant wind-up toy this early in the morning, I'm going to need coffee first."

"Right," Kurt conceded as he pulled a chair out for Mercedes and she sat down. "I poured you a cup. Milk and sugar like you like it," he added, sliding into his own seat and pushing the steaming mug toward his friend.

Mercedes took the cup gratefully and brought it to her lips. "Mmm," she said after a long sip, a satisfied look coming over her face. "Alright, Boo, tell me why you all of a sudden _needed_ to meet me here an hour before I normally even think about getting up."

Kurt immediately began to fidget with the handle on his own ceramic coffee mug. "It's Blaine," he said, not looking up to meet her eyes.

Mercedes gave a knowing smirk. "I figured as much. Where is your boy-toy anyway? You two have been pretty inseparable lately."

The prince's eyes snapped up at that. "He is not my _boy-toy_, Mercedes. And he's still asleep. That's why I wanted to meet you so early. So I can get back up to my room before he realizes I'm gone."

"I see," the stylist said, raising an intrigued eyebrow. "So what do you need to discuss about him that he can't hear?"

Kurt bit his lip before he answered. "I need some advice."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. You see, about three weeks ago, you know, the day after we went to Scandals?"

Mercedes nodded. She remembered the night well and how worried she'd been when she saw how torn up Kurt was as he ran after a distraught Blaine. She'd never seen her best friend so worked up about any guy like that before.

"Yeah, well, the next day I told Blaine I would never keep any secrets from him again and that I wanted him to accompany me to all my lessons and stuff so he can see what I do and he's not so bored, so that's why he's been glued to my hip." Kurt paused for a breath. "And then I told him I like him. Like,_ really_ like him a lot."

Mercedes smiled wide. "I knew it!" she proclaimed.

Kurt's cheeks reddened. "You did?" he asked, bashful.

She nodded again. "I see how you are when you're around him. You're happier and lighter than you've been in ages and the way you stare at him? It's obvious, hon."

Kurt dropped his eyes back down to his coffee. "Yeah, well, like I said, I told him I like him because, you know, I promised him full disclosure and everything. So he knows I do but I've still been trying to be really patient with him and not scare him into anything."

"That's good," Mercedes encouraged.

"But I want to do more," Kurt blurted.

Mercedes's eyes widened at the abrupt comment. "Do you, now?" she asked, slightly amused by how flustered the prince was getting. She hadn't had such juicy girl-talk with Kurt in quite a while.

Kurt nodded, a desperate look coming over his face. "God, yes. He's so gorgeous, Cedes. And he's so smart, and witty, and caring, and the way he tries so hard at everything he does… the way he's coping with this terrible situation he's found himself in? I don't know how he does it. He's just… incredible."

"Oh my God, Kurt."

"He's been here for five weeks, Cedes. He's slept in my bed for five whole weeks and the most I've been able to bring myself to do is hug him, which I've only done once! You know me, Cedes. Normally it only takes a few hours tops before I'll make out with a guy, but with Blaine, he's just so delicate, you know? With everything he's been through… I just can't risk hurting him."

Mercedes pursed her lips in contemplation. "So you want to do more with Blaine, but you don't want to scare him?"

Kurt nodded. "And I don't want to try to make a move and have him think that he has to go along with it. I mean, what with that being in his official job description and all…"

"But you've told him you like him, yeah?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Then I think you can cross the 'he'll just go along with it because he thinks he has to' worry off the list. Blaine knows by now that your feelings are genuine, even after the club incident, if how infatuated he looks with you is any indication."

"You think Blaine looks infatuated with me?" Kurt asked, his eyes widening in surprise and possibly hope.

"Oh, please. Anyone off the street could see the mutual attraction rolling off you two lately. Anyways, don't interrupt. Where was I? Oh yeah, and the fact that he's been here for five weeks and you haven't pressured him into anything yet should be a pretty damn good indication that you don't plan on it, and any move you do decide to make now will be sincere."

"You think so?"

"God, Kurt _yes_. Please, for the love of Lima, make a freaking move already! Even if he wasn't your slave, I don't think there's a person left in this palace who wouldn't think you two are already going at it like rabbits anyway, the way you act together."

Kurt smiled at Mercedes's encouragement. It was true that things were going better than ever with Blaine. Over the past three weeks since their outing in the city, Blaine really hadn't left Kurt's side much. He'd started accompanying the prince to all his lessons, including tutoring with Mr. Schuster, which the younger boy just _adored_. The first time Kurt had brought him along, the kind teacher had said that although it would be against the law to formally teach Blaine and give him assignments, he couldn't help what the boy might overhear during the lessons. (The curly-haired, big-chinned man had then looked at Blaine and winked, pleased to meet the reason behind Kurt's dramatic improvement in grades and work ethic.) Mr. Shuester had also adopted the practice of casually leaving books on the table in front of Blaine's usual seat, claiming he wouldn't notice if the volumes were to disappear for a time. Hence Blaine's new habit of staying up long after Kurt dozed off, devouring the new information in the thick books, which ranged in subject from mathematics to history, politics, mythology and linguistics.

When the boys weren't in classes, they had taken to wandering the palace and its grounds together or hanging out with Mercedes, Santana, Brittany, and even Prince Finn and Princess Rachel on occasion. When they were alone, they would spend time in Kurt's room, or at the courtyard fountain, or in one of the palace's countless, luxurious sitting rooms. Each evening, Kurt would politely drink Blaine's nasty tea and talk his ear off about whatever came to his mind while they worked on his homework. The two young men could talk easily now and for surprisingly long amounts of time. Both boys would sometimes marvel at how long their conversations stretched on, even when they weren't talking about anything particularly important.

It was easy to see that Blaine was clearly the happiest he'd been since arriving at the palace, and Kurt's triumphant feeling had started to well up in his stomach again every time he saw the curly haired boy smile and that spark lit up his eyes. Now Kurt was just terrified that he'd blow it again.

Because then there were the thoughts. And the thoughts were becoming relentless. As much as he'd been trying to suppress it, the fact remained that Kurt was still a hormonal, eighteen-year-old guy who had perhaps an exaggerated appreciation for the beauty of the male body. Especially the male body that slept next to him each night. For the past three weeks, stolen glimpses of Blaine's toned back and abdomen as he changed shirts at night, mindless infatuation with the way his mouth moved when he spoke, and the stray fantasy of what it might be like to reach over in the bed and throw an arm around the smaller boy's waist as he slept ruled Kurt's thoughts whenever he was around his slave, which was basically all the time.

"So, you really think it would be okay to try and… make my intentions clear? You don't think he'd hate me for it?" Kurt asked Mercedes, shaking himself out of his blissful reverie about time spent with Blaine.

Mercedes smiled at her friend. She could not remember the last time she'd seen him so reluctant about what to do with a guy. _Never,_ she suddenly realized. _Kurt has never been so careful with any relationship in his life._

"I don't think Blaine would ever hate you, Kurt. Not for being honest with him. And seriously, it's not like he can be completely unaware something like this would be coming. You already told him you like him."

"Right," Kurt agreed. "Okay. Yeah. I should definitely try to take the next step." The prince sounded like he was trying to psych himself up. "How do I do that?"

Mercedes just laughed.

"What?"

"This is the most worked up I have ever seen you about a guy! Since when do you, Prince Kurt Hummel, come to _me_ for advice on how to get a man?"

"Since I've never had this much riding on it! Think about it, Cedes. If I try something and Blaine ends up hating me, that's it. We're screwed. We'll be doomed to a life of awkwardness together. In the same bed!"

"Okay, first of all," Mercedes began, seeing it necessary to talk Kurt down from his emotional cliff, "you are being way too dramatic. Like I said, he's not going to end up hating you unless you do something really, really supremely stupid."

Kurt took a deep breath. "Alright, so how do I keep myself from doing something that bad?"

Mercedes shook her head, becoming amused with Kurt's desperation. "What would you normally do? How do you usually charm all your suitors?"

"That's the thing, Cedes. I've always had suitors come to me. I've never had to be a suitor before."

"Okay, well, what do they normally do to get you into it?"

Kurt thought for a moment. "Umm, they fill me up with alcohol and then grab my ass?"

The stylist glared at him.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Ugh, God, I don't know!"

Mercedes let out a sigh. "Well, what do you _wish_ they would do for you?"

Kurt paused. It was interesting question. How would he like to be wooed? There was something. Something he'd never really been able to do for security reasons or time restrictions or both. Something he'd always felt like he'd been missing out on. "I'd like to go on a date."

Mercedes cocked her head in confusion. "You've had plenty of dates."

Kurt wrinkled his nose. "Not really. Just rushed quickies in the backs of pubs and a couple one nighters at others guys' houses with Mike or Puck waiting awkwardly outside. No one has ever actually taken me out. Like, dinner and dancing and flowers and meeting my father and the whole ordeal."

"Well, to be fair, meeting your father is a pretty daunting concept."

Another eye roll. "So are you saying I should ask Blaine out on a real date?"

Mercedes smiled again, then took another sip of coffee before answering. "Yes. Yes I am. I think you would both love that."

A tiny smile graced the prince's lips as he started to fidget with his coffee cup again. "Yeah, you're right. I would really love that," he said quietly. "Thank you, Mercedes. I knew talking to you would help. You always know what to say."

The stylist flipped her hair over her shoulder dramatically. "Yes, well, I am just that fabulous."

The two friends laughed together for few more minutes, sipping their coffee and Mercedes cheering up as sunlight began to peek through the windows.

"I should get going," Kurt said, rising from his seat at the cozy table. "Blaine should be getting up soon and I need to be there for him to wake. Plus, I have to get on planning this date! Speaking of which," the prince paused, pressing his finger to his lips as he thought, "can you do me a huge favor?"

"Sure, Boo. Whatever you need."

"Can you tell the kitchen staff I need a special dinner for two prepared for tonight?"

"Tonight?" Mercedes said, surprised at how soon Kurt wanted to get this going.

"Yeah, well, the thing is I have something to give Blaine tonight, so I need him out of the room for a while anyway. A date would be the perfect excuse, don't you think? Then I could top the night off with a gift?"

"Well, what all do you have in mind for this date?"

Kurt leaned in and whispered his preliminary plan into his friend's ear. When he'd disclosed his whole idea, he pulled away with questioning look.

"Do you think that sounds good?" he asked.

Mercedes looked somewhat stunned. "Kurt, that all sounds amazing. I'm more than happy to help out. It all sounds so romantic! Oh my God, Blaine will love it! And you claim you've never been on a date before."

Kurt shrugged. "I just really hope he likes it."

"He will. I'm sure of it. I'll make sure it all gets arranged. Now get moving or you'll have a lot of explaining to do to a certain dreamy Daltonian I know."

"Oh crap, you're right!" Kurt exclaimed, glancing at the window to see how high the sun was getting. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best, Cedes!" He blew a kiss over his shoulder as he scurried toward the kitchen exit and back to his chambers.

Mercedes laughed lightly as she watched her best friend go. It had been so long since she'd seen the exuberant prince so genuinely concerned about anything, or in this case any_one_. It really melted her heart the way Kurt's dedication was so pure and how honorable he was trying to be, even after all the unhonorable bullshit he'd been through before. She was thrilled to see that he was finally leaving all that naïve, heartbreaking promiscuity behind and becoming more of a man than she'd ever seen him be before. She knew that Kurt was really lucky to have Blaine in his life, and she knew that Blaine was lucky to be the one who got Kurt to be true to himself again.

When Kurt got back to his room, the sun was just beginning to peek through the thin summer curtains of his grand windows. He estimated he had about fifteen minutes before Blaine would get up. He shed his clothes as he approached his bed and a smile crossed his face when he saw the mess of curly black hair occupying the pillow next to his. Blaine hadn't had a haircut since his arrival and now his hair was long and a bit out of control, but the prince found it endearing and was constantly holding back urges to reach out and touch the way he had on their very first night together.

The smile quickly faded from Kurt's face, though, once he drew close enough to see how restless Blaine looked in his sleep. The younger boy's face was contorted into a distressed expression and his arms and legs moved about almost longingly, as if he were reaching to search for something he could not find. A strangled whine escaped the sleeping boy's throat as his arm swept over the space normally occupied by Kurt.

The prince, taking extra care not to jostle the blankets or the mattress too much, slipped into the bed and immediately scooted closer to Blaine. The choked whines continued for a minute more as the younger boy's arms moved around him on their own accord, still searching for whatever was apparently missing. Kurt briefly thought of waking him so he wouldn't have to be so distressed any longer, but then had to hold back a gasp when he felt Blaine's hand brush along his forearm. Immediately, Blaine's face softened and his hand ran over the soft skin of Kurt's arm once again. Before Kurt could really react, Blaine's hand was grasping onto his arm and the boy was turning completely toward him, the smallest of smiles coming over his sleeping face. Within a matter of moments, the boy's labored breathing smoothed out to a clam, even pace and he stopped his fidgeting, apparently content with having found Kurt's strong arm to grip onto.

Kurt's heart suddenly felt like it was trying to escape from his chest as he stared wide-eyed at the sleeping boy clinging to him. Blaine looked so peaceful and content now… had _his_ presence there really been able to comfort him that much?

Kurt was stuck between feelings of joy and fear as he lay there with Blaine, the smaller boy unconsciously snuggling closer so that their foreheads were close enough to touch if Kurt would be brave enough to close the distance. In that moment, he understood more clearly than ever how much this boy's happiness lay in his hands. Blaine trusted him not to hurt him, and Kurt would be damned if ever let anything happen to this beautiful boy. But he knew it was up to him to make the next move, and he just hoped that it wouldn't break them.

He wouldn't know until he tried.

The prince tilted his head forward just slightly, and was suddenly reveling in the marvelous feeling of Blaine's soft hair against his own forehead as well his strong grip around his wrist. He couldn't help but sigh to himself contentedly. This felt right. Kurt closed his eyes and smiled as he felt Blaine's soft, calm breaths against his cheek. In that moment, he knew they both felt safe. He knew they both felt right, and then Kurt knew that this was they way it was supposed to be for them. Yes, moving forward with Blaine was the right thing to do.

They lay like that for a while. Kurt kept his eyes trained on Blaine's sleeping face and just let himself get lost for a little while. Then Blaine stirred, his internal clock having become quite accustomed to waking up at the right time every day, and Kurt sealed his eyes shut, pretending to be asleep.

**Chapter 14 forthcoming! **


	14. Ch 14: Affections

**Chapter 14**

**Affections**

Blaine blinked himself awake somewhat regretfully, having been quite comfortable and content in his slumber. It took his bleary eyes a moment to focus on the form right in front of his face, and he let out a small gasp when he realized he was snuggled practically right up against the prince, his forehead actually touching the porcelain smoothness of his master's. Then he realized his hand was wrapped loosely but securely around Kurt's wrist, and his heart rate immediately began to rise.

His initial instinct told him to move away, to let go of the sleeping prince and pretend like this never happened, but then another feeling came over him – a stronger one that told him not be afraid. Giving into it, he sighed lightly into the pillow, noting how his breath managed to carry a flyaway strand of auburn hair from Kurt's face.

His face looked just as peaceful and angelic as always when he slept. The prince's long eyelashes rested on his pale cheekbones and his delectable looking pink lips were parted just slightly, just the way Blaine imagined they might look in the moment right before a kiss.

Blaine picked his head up from the pillow and tried to shake the thought from it. The now quite familiar twist returned to his stomach. Blaine had long ago given up on hating Kurt, and he had started to catch himself gawking at the prince with these types of thoughts for the past two weeks or so. And they were starting to become more and more frequent.

The intensifying, ever more frequent digressions into airy fantasies about what the soft skin on the curve of Kurt's back would feel like against his hand, what it might be like to lean over at any given moment and place a kiss on his soft lips, the still startling wave of possessiveness that would come over him if he saw someone's eyes linger too long on the other boy – were all starting to more or less dictate his consciousness – and unconsciousness for that matter. Honestly, Blaine wasn't sure how much longer his body could take the effects of this platonic friendship.

A shiver ran down Blaine's spine as he finally moved gently away from the older boy. He would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the view he got to wake up to every morning, and that he didn't hate having to leave the warm closeness of the bed to get the day started.

Blaine shifted out of the bed and started the water for Kurt's bath. He laid out the prince's monogrammed towel and slippers the way he did every morning and then preceded to pick up Kurt's clothes from yesterday off the bathroom's marble floor. He carried the pile of expensive fabrics across the suite and deposited it into the hamper that sat just inside the closet door.

Another couple of minutes later, Blaine turned off the flow of hot water in the tub. It was time to wake Kurt.

"Hey, time to get up," Blaine said gently as he shook Kurt's bare shoulder.

He was prepared to have to do this several more times, as was usually required to actually get the reluctant prince up and out of bed. But, to his surprise, Kurt immediately rolled over and opened his eyes, showing no signs of his usual early morning delirium.

The prince yawned dramatically and looked up at his servant. "Morning," he said, faking grogginess.

"Morning," Blaine replied, narrowing his eyes suspiciously, but deciding not to point out the clearly exaggerated mannerisms. "Bath's ready for you."

"Thanks," Kurt said as he pushed the covers back and moved to get up, much more quickly than he ever had before.

Blaine's eyes followed the oddly chipper prince's lithe body as he disappeared into the bathroom. He sighed to himself and leaned down to start making the bed, deciding whether or not to address the issue after Kurt was done bathing.

His thoughts then wandered back to how Kurt had looked sleeping in the bed. His hair had looked especially disheveled, beyond his normal bedhead. It had that telltale pattern of disorder that always happened when he was worried and ran his hands through it. Had Kurt not slept well? Had he been up worrying about something? Blaine frowned at the thought, feeling slightly disappointed that the prince hadn't discussed any such feelings with him. Kurt had seemed so happy and relatively carefree lately, and, true to his promise, he had been telling Blaine everything. What could be bothering him?

Roughly fifteen minutes later, Kurt emerged from the bathroom in a towel, and Blaine watched him with a skeptical expression as he crossed the room to his closet.

Feeling Blaine's gaze locked on him, Kurt stopped shyly. "What?" he asked, trying to pull on an innocent smile.

"Nothing," Blaine replied, not dropping his incredulous stare. "You just seem really wide awake this morning. I didn't even have to pull the covers off you or sprinkle water in your face to get you up."

Kurt's overly enthusiastic smile faltered. "Umm, I don't know. I guess I'm just excited to get this day started."

Blaine tilted his head to the side, not buying it. "But today you have to go to the hospital and make nice with the investors for the new children's wing. Yesterday you said you hate doing stuff like that."

Kurt let out a nervous laugh. "Oh, wow, you really remember everything I say, don't you?"

The slave's eyebrows scrunched in further confusion at Kurt's evasive antics. "Kurt, is something wrong? Is there something you don't want to tell me?" Blaine tried and failed to keep the slightly hurt tone out of his voice. He really hoped Kurt wasn't mad at him for some reason, or that he hadn't been wrong about placing so much trust in the prince lately.

Sensing this, Kurt went into slight panic mode. "No! Blaine, don't be silly. I'm not hiding anything from you. I would never! You know that, don't you?"

Blaine nodded. He honestly did feel like he didn't have to worry about Kurt hiding anything from him, but then why was he acting so skittish? Blaine bit his lip, suddenly feeling afraid that maybe he'd done something wrong.

Kurt was just about to turn back to head toward his closet, letting out a sigh of relief at not having to give away his whole plan by explaining his early morning conspiratorial meeting with Mercedes when Blaine spoke again.

"But you know you can always tell me if something's bothering you, right?"

Kurt stopped in his tracks once again. He looked back at Blaine to see him staring at him, golden eyes wide, almost pleading. Kurt finally let out his sigh, but it was one of resignation rather than relief. He couldn't keep secrets from Blaine. Not even tiny little harmless ones when he would look at him like that. Kurt suddenly felt terrible for causing even the slightest doubt in the younger boy's mind. He'd worked so hard to build his trust back up, and he'd promised he wouldn't let him down again.

"Of course I know that, Blaine. Listen, just let me go put some clothes on and I'll tell you what's on my mind. It's nothing for you to worry about, I promise."

Blaine's lips twitched into a tiny smile. "Okay," he said, glad to know Kurt would still be honest with him.

A few minutes later, Kurt reappeared, dressed dapperly as ever. He approached the couch where Blaine was seated and took the seat next to him. The prince looked more on edge than Blaine was expecting, nervous even. He was suddenly scared of what Kurt had to tell him. Had something terrible happened?

Kurt took a deep breath before he began. "Okay, first of all, I don't want you to think I was trying to keep anything from you. What I'm about to say, I was always going to tell you… I just, wanted to present it in a more elegant way, I guess."

Blaine's eyebrows scrunched in more confusion. "Kurt, what are you talking about?"

To the younger boy's surprise, Kurt slid a little bit closer to him on the couch. Then, before he knew what was happening, Kurt had grasped both of Blaine's hands in his own. Blaine's eyes bugged out in pure astonishment. The prince's hands were as warm and soft and comforting as ever, but the gesture served to send his pulse rate off the charts, especially when Kurt started to caress his thumbs over Blaine's knuckles.

"There's something I've been wanting to ask you for while. Something I was always going to ask you… I just, wanted to make sure I was ready. And that you were ready."

Kurt took in a deep breath before he spoke again. "You trust me, right?"

Blaine stared in bemusement for another moment, but Kurt didn't wait for an answer before continuing.

"I mean, now that we've been spending so much time together and we've gotten to know each other so much better?"

Blaine narrowed his eyes skeptically again, unsure what Kurt was getting at with the question, and what it had to do with his off-kilter attitude this morning. "Yeah, I trust you now. You've been nothing but honest just like you said you'd be."

"And you know I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you, right?"

"…Yes, Kurt."

The prince let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, good." Then Kurt's blue eyes chanced a glance at the shorter boy and he immediately let out a soft, clearly nervous chuckle. "Then, the reason I'm acting so weird is because I'm a little nervous." The prince paused and cleared his throat, clearly trying to gather himself and not mess up. "I was wondering, I mean, I was _hoping_ that maybe you would like to accompany me for dinner tonight?"

Blaine's eyebrows scrunched farther in confusion. "Yeah. I mean, I usually do, right?"

Kurt shook his head rapidly. "No, I mean like…" the prince paused to gather his flustered thoughts. "Well, you know I like you. A Lot."

Finally getting an idea as to where Kurt was headed, Blaine could feel the color rise in his cheeks.

"So when I say 'accompany me to dinner,' I mean, _accompany_ me. Like, you know, come with me to this place I want to take you. Alone. On a date." Kurt bit his lip as soon as he finished speaking and his hands immediately tightened around Blaine's in a mess of nervousness and vulnerability. The poor prince looked like he might explode from sheer nerves.

Blaine just sat there for a moment, trying to process the words that had just come out of Kurt's mouth. His hazel eyes grew to the size of saucers as he scraped his mind for a coherent thought. Had he heard correctly? Had Kurt, his master and the crowned prince of Lima just asked him out on a formal date? It couldn't be. He couldn't have. Never mind the fact that he was a prince _and_ that it was completely unnecessary for a master to try and woo his slaves in any way, but formal dates like the one Kurt proposed were only something serious couples did.

"You want… date?" Blaine managed to sputter, feeling suddenly dizzy.

Kurt nodded vehemently, blue eyes wide with hope. "Blaine," he began in an authoritative tone, betraying that he had probably thought about what he was going to say in this situation beforehand. "I've already told you that I like you, and I feel like things have been going pretty well between us. You just told me you feel like you can trust me, and I hope this doesn't scare you away from that, but we get along great, and I feel like it's time I act on it. I'd like to… forgive me for being forward, but I'd really like to try to move our relationship… forward." Kurt's eyes were boring into Blaine. "But only if you want to too, of course."

"Our… our relationship?" Blaine asked, still finding it hard to form words. "Kurt, our _relationship_ is state mandated. Slave and master. You don't have to take me on dates. Is that even appropriate? I mean, you're the crowned prince for God's sake and I am absolutely _nobody_."

Kurt just shook his head. "Stop, Blaine. How much do I have to stress to you that you are not '_nobody'_ to me? I would never want somebody feeling that inferior to me. It's not right, especially for you. I care about you _so_ much." Kurt paused, making sure to keep unblinking eye contact with the Blaine.

The younger boy continued to stare back in bemusement, amazed once again at Kurt's fierce passion for his morals.

"And the truth is," the prince continued, "if you weren't my servant - if I had just met you at a ball or at a club like normal – I would have been at your house _weeks_ ago asking your father for permission to court you."

Blaine could hardly believe the swell of emotions coming over him at Kurt's words. He could feel his eyes watering up, but he didn't want to separate his hands from Kurt's soft, secure grip to wipe them dry. His mind could barely comprehend the sentiments coming from the prince's mouth. It was everything he could possibly hope for and everything he feared all at once.

"You would want to court _me_?" he finally uttered, his voice small.

"Not_ would_ want to, _do_ want to," Kurt replied gently. "And I'm pretty sure I've never wanted anything so much in my life." The last sentence slipped out before he could think better of it. He hoped it wasn't too much.

But Blaine simply stared back him, golden eyes so full of emotion that it was practically spilling out. "Is it allowed?" he asked quietly.

Kurt wasn't exactly sure to what Blaine was referring. Was it to the practice of royals courting slaves or was he was asking if he was allowed to have something he wanted so badly? Either way, Kurt decided, his answer was the same. "Screw what's _allowed_, Blaine. Life's too short to let go of what you want."

A moment of silence passed. The two boys just sat with their eyes locked and their hands intertwined, both wrapping their heads around the idea that this whole situation was real.

"Okay," Blaine spoke up.

Kurt straightened up immediately, eyes blown wide with hope. "Okay? As in yes? Yes, you'll go on a date with me?"

Blaine smiled and squeezed Kurt's hands, still never breaking eye contact with the prince. "Yes. I would be honored to go on a date with you."

Kurt beamed. He was unable to control the burst of pure emotion that pulsed through his system in the next moment and before either boy knew it, Kurt had Blaine wrapped up in his arms, squeezing him to himself in a rush of what he was sure had to be pure, unadulterated bliss.

Blaine eagerly returned the embrace, shamelessly letting his cheek rest on the soft heaven that was Kurt's neck. All the emotion, all the security that he had felt in the prince's arms while they danced three weeks prior came back in a flood and for the second time, Blaine let himself be carried away by the sensation.

The two broke apart after a few moments, both with ridiculously huge smiles plastered to their faces.

"Anyway," Kurt said, still feeling like he was floating on cloud nine, "that's where my mind was this morning. I had to talk to Mercedes and get up the guts to ask you, and then all the mental planning."

"You've planned it already?" Blaine asked, feeling another blush coming over his face at the thought of Kurt worrying so much and putting effort into making _their_ date perfect, as he knew it anything planned by Kurt would be.

"More or less," Kurt replied, still smiling like a dope. "Mercedes is helping arrange it. I still have to go to the hospital today with Finn and spend some time building rapport with business sharks, who I highly doubt have any real interest in saving children by the way, but how about you meet me after that? Seven o'clock in the entrance hall?"

"Well, let me see, I'll have to check my bustling schedule…" Blaine said teasingly.

Kurt put on a sardonic, offended look at the remark, but then it quickly melted back into a euphoric smile. "I'm taking that as an elated, fervent yes."

Blaine's own smile grew even more. "As well you should."

* * *

As soon as Kurt left the room, Blaine could not stop himself from flopping down on the couch and letting out an enormous sigh of pure elation. He proceeded to lie there, dopey grin still firmly in place, and get lost in thoughts about what had just occurred and what it meant to him. There could be no absolutely no doubt in his mind anymore that Kurt genuinely liked him as much as he liked Kurt, and the joy that knowledge brought him was altogether indescribable.

For the past three weeks since Kurt had broken the news to him that he was honestly attracted to him, more than just physically, Blaine had been slightly on edge around the prince.

It had been very hard for him to believe that a cultured, polite, well-traveled, and outgoing individual (not to mention a freaking _prince_) like Kurt could ever have feelings for a shy, inexperienced, and insecure country boy like him. As a result, he'd been trying to constantly suppress his own feelings toward the older boy. Every time he caught himself gazing at Kurt longingly, he would talk himself out of it. Every time he felt Kurt's guiding hands on his arm, waist, or back as they walked, he convinced himself that it was just the prince's extreme politeness rather than an actual desire to touch him that drove the actions.

He never expected this to happen. He never thought it could happen to him. But there he was, sprawled out in a mess of dazed happiness on the prince's couch reveling in the excitement of the affirmation that his feelings were returned. Kurt wanted to court him. He was actually going on a date with the object of his confused, even frustrated, but still so genuine and strong affection: the beautiful, the passionate, the one and only Prince Kurt Hummel. Tonight.

Suddenly, Blaine snapped upright on the couch, the dopey grin immediately erased from his face. The realization had hit him. He was going on a date with _Kurt_. _Tonight_.

"Holy shit," Blaine said aloud, feeling a sense of panic threaten to overtake his excitement, "What have I gotten myself into?" He closed his eyes and ran his hands through his hair, trying to calm himself down from what he felt like was a building nervous heart attack.

He spent the rest of the day stuck in this nervous frenzy, trying on every last piece of his clothing and trying to psych himself up. For his first real, official date. Ever. With the prince.

* * *

Six-forty-five pm found an incredibly anxious Blaine sitting back on the couch, wringing his hands and tapping his foot as time ticked on. He wasn't sure if he wanted it to speed up or slow down. He just hoped he didn't get _too_ nauseous before he left to meet Kurt.

His hazel eyes kept darting nervously down to the ensemble he had finally selected for himself: an elegant, dark green dress shirt that he'd always wanted to wear, but never felt he had an occasion, and black pants that were tighter than he was used to, but he couldn't help but notice that they seemed quite… flattering on him. He just hoped Kurt liked it.

A few more minutes passed, and then Blaine could not sit still a moment longer. He made his way back over to the mirror for probably the millionth time to check his hair.

Earlier that day, he had gotten courageous with the sticky substance that Mercedes and Kurt had both used to style his hair previously. He ran tentative, gelled-up hands through his unruly curls, trying to recreate the polished look he'd had on Kurt's birthday. He felt like he had mostly succeeded, but still, he just hoped he was at least moving in the right direction toward impressing Kurt.

Blaine took a deep breath as he looked at his reflection. "Alright, Blaine. You've got this. You'll be fine, just don't do anything stupid and you'll be fine," he chanted to himself, trying to make himself believe it. "It's just Kurt. The same Kurt you're with every day." He paused and licked his lips. "Just the same Kurt, with the same soft skin. The same Kurt that smells like peaches and perfection and _those eyes_…"

Blaine was cut off by a sharp knock on the door. He moved away from the mirror, and looked to the door of the suite to see Mike peek his head inside. The guard smiled kindly at the clearly anxious looking slave.

"Hey. Kurt's ready for you now. You ready to go?" he asked.

Blaine managed to nod and somehow he found himself walking forward, although he didn't remember telling his feet to move.

He followed Mike silently through the corridors in a kind of thoughtless daze, struggling to keep his breath even.

When they turned the corner into the entrance hall, Blaine stopped breathing altogether. There, looking more inhumanly gorgeous than ever in a white silk shirt and trim black slacks, was Kurt. The prince was standing near the grand entryway of the palace, holding an enormous bouquet of luscious red roses. He smiled when he laid eyes on Blaine and the smaller boy could practically see the affection pouring out of his blue eyes. He suddenly felt his knees go weak.

Blaine tried to swallow the lump in his throat, which had gone very dry. It was official. He'd never been so nervous in his life – not even on his first night in the palace – but he wasn't afraid either. This feeling was new. This feeling was different. And Blaine knew that no matter what happened tonight, things would never be the same.

**So, just to make you angry, I guess I'll tell you all that I was planning on including the whole date in this chapter, but then I got to writing and I felt like it needed… you guessed it!... even MORE emotional development from Blaine! Plus this chapter as it is now is already 4000 words and if I included the date too it would be waaay too long. **

**But fear not, dear readers. The best is yet to come. Stay tuned ;)**


End file.
